Thrift Store Damaged By Small Fire During Overnight Vandalism

Thrift Store Damaged By Small Fire During Overnight Vandalism

Some Brookside businesses are cleaning up this afternoon after the protests escalated to looting and vandalism. Restoration crews came out to board up this window at the Quality Thrift Store after someone broke it then almost set the store on fire.

Quality Thrift Store Manager Gary Huffar says the owner of the store called him around 1 a.m. telling him the store was on fire. Tulsa Police told them something was thrown through a window that caught a rack of clothes on fire.

"It totally went up in flames. Melted the plastic hangers and everything," said Huffar.

Firefighters were able to put out the fire pretty quickly but there's still a lot of smoke damage left inside. Now employees are trying to figure out what they can salvage and what they need to get rid of. Huffar says the store took a big hit especially after being closed due to COVID 19 but says he's glad the damage wasn't worse.

"This is my job. This is my income. This is my living. I've got a family to take care of and if this place would've burned down I don't know what would've happened," said Huffar.

Employees say the shopping center has multiple cameras so officers told them they'd be back out today to take a look at the security video to see if they can find out who is responsible.