Businesses deal with aftermath of Red Hills Parkway blaze

Written by Chris Reed
August 1, 2023

ST. GEORGE — Initially, officials said the fire in an industrial area along Red Hills Parkway on Friday afternoon mainly damaged the Tropical Spas store. 

Co-owner Bruce Barber points to carpet destroyed by smoke damage at Sunset Flooring, St. George, Utah, July 31, 2023 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

But it turns out the blaze, whose smoke could be seen throughout St. George, did much more harm to surrounding businesses than was initially suspected.

Just ask Bruce and Beckie Barber. 

The Barbers own and operate Sunset Flooring, which sells floor coverings for the inside and outside of homes and is located next door to Tropical Spas. In the main sales area of Sunset Flooring, after the smell of smoke was removed, it seemed busy with customers browsing for carpet, tile and turf. However, the store was only able to take special orders.

In the back, shelves held stacks of rolled-up carpet, all still reeking with the smell of smoke and determined useless.

“All the carpet’s basically wiped out as far as smoke damage. Everything that wasn’t a hard surface was affected,” Bruce Barber told St. George News, pointing to the two stories of carpet in the back warehouse of Sunset Flooring.

“The smoke just kind of hit the back of the building and they rushed our employees out of here Friday quick, and we couldn’t even shut our door down,” he continued. “But the smoke just came in, … and both of our showrooms were completely saturated with smoke contamination.”

The fire started in the rear storage area of the hot tub business Tropical Spas early afternoon Friday. But fire officials said Monday that they still have not pinpointed the exact cause of the fire. 

“We are still interviewing and looking for video,” St. George Fire Department Chief Robert Stoker told St. George News. 

Overhead view from Santa Clara-Ivins Fire & Rescue drone of the damage to the rear and building of Tropical Spas off Red Cliffs Parkway after a fire that was seen throughout the area, St. George, Utah, July 28, 2023 | Photo courtesy of Santa Clara-Ivins Fire & Rescue, St. George News

Tropical Spas was not opened during its normal hours Monday and may not be open for a while. The area behind looked like a post-war aftermath with a blanket of gray ash surrounding blackened and melted metal and plastic. 

Out front, a strong smell of smoke lingered. And at the locked entrance, a posted computer-printed sign said they are “regrouping for a few days” but plan to reopen with a temporary location within the week and will post updates on their Facebook page. In the outside parking lot, new hot tubs and other inventory were already arriving.

“With your support, we will be rebuilding even better to continue to serve the community we love and have served for over 40 years,” the sign reads. It closed with the Hawaiian words “Kuleana Pono Laulima,” which roughly translates to mean “be true to your spirit.” 

The cost of Tropical Spas damage is unknown, but Bruce Barber estimates about $150,000 in damage to his business that sits just to the east. During Friday’s fire, only a cinder block wall separated the burning Tropical Spas storage yard from the Barbers’ business, and just on the other side of that wall was the Barbers’ personal travel trailer.

The keyword? Was.

All that remains of the trailer is some of its side, with the rest gutted. Some of the steel at the top appeared folded and melted away like butter. 

The Barbers, who took over as the second owners of Sunset Flooring 18 years ago, weren’t there Friday. They were at their daughter’s wedding, and it was during the reception lunch after the ceremony that their phones went off. An already stressful day for parents took a turn for the worst.

“We had people sending us pictures, and we didn’t want to destroy our daughter’s day, so it had to go in the back of the mind and kind of just let it go,” Bruce Barber said. “Afterward, I kept trying to come here, trying to get close to the building. With all the fire and the danger, we couldn’t even get close for a few hours.”

A worker helps customers at Sunset Flooring on Red Cliffs Parkway in St. George, Utah, July 31, 2023 | Photo by Chris Reed, St. George News

Barber said of the three other businesses in the building, Tuff Shed directly next door had minimal damage, but there was extensive smoke damage with losses to Sheridan’s Home and Patio and also smoke damage at the office of Red Sands Vacation Properties. Around the block from the Red Hills Parkway businesses, a phone service provider’s offices and a scuba gear store on Park Street also sustained smoke damage.

Despite his own losses, Barber said he was still grateful that his store still can do some business and feels for his Tropical Spas neighbors who will have a tougher road ahead. 

“This is a material thing. We didn’t lose the business. We can still function,” Barber said. “Tropical Spas, they can’t function. Best we can do is clean up and be ready to go again and keep things going.”

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2023, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Reed serves as a reporter for St. George News, where he has been honored with several awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for his work, including first-place accolades. He started his journalism career as a sports reporter and editor in Southern California where he once compared shoe sizes with Shaquille O'Neal and exchanged mix tapes with members of the Los Angeles Kings. After growing up in the San Fernando Valley learning karate skills from Mr. Miyagi and spending a decade in Las Vegas mostly avoiding the casinos, he came to St. George for love and married his soulmate, a lifetime Southern Utah resident. He is the proud father of two boys, his youngest a champion against both autism and Type 1 diabetes.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @STGNews

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