BonnerSprings.com

A blaze is burning on one side of the store, an immense heat blocks the main exit and Matt Trapp has found himself in the middle, frantically looking for a way out.

With a flash of inspiration, the co-owner of the Wrap Factory, 10952 Kaw Drive, Edwardsville, climbs into his large truck and guns the gas, flying through one of two garage doors on the side of the building.

“I’m just glad I got out of there alive,” Trapp later recounted of the fire on Aug. 3,that destroyed the custom design and automotive decorative decal company he and his partner, James Dearth, have been building for the past 6 years.

The fire started about 7:30 p.m. while Trapp was working on a company vehicle. While draining the fuel from the van, the bucket being filled became too heavy and dropped. The splash of gasoline hit a nearby shop light that had been lying on the floor, igniting the fire.

“I don’t remember much,” Trapp said. “I just ran immediately.”

Crews from the Edwardsville Fire Department and the Kansas City, Kan., Fire Department arrived about 7:40 p.m. Edwardsville Fire Chief Cliff Lane said the fire was one of the biggest he’d seen in the city.

When the eight Edwardsville crew members and 20 Kansas City, Kan., crew members arrived, Lane said heavy, black smoke and flames were coming out of the garage doors. Within 45 minutes, Lane said the fire was under control.

“Everyone did a good job,” Lane said, adding that the heat created in the metal building was more intense then many other structure fires. “The heat was getting to a lot of people, but everyone did good.”

One firefighter was treated for exhaustion, and returned to work, and Trapp was treated for mild smoke inhalation, but refused further treatment. Trapp said Thursday he was feeling fine and didn’t need medical assistance.

On Thursday, signs of the fire still dominated the building in which the Wrap Factory had occupied since June 2008. The van where the fire originated stood in the same spot, a charred, skeleton of its former self. Behind the van, shelves up to the ceiling once filled with inventory are covered with black, melted merchandise and glass covers much of the surrounding floor from broken light bulbs.

A small twisted piece of plastic, once a trash can, sat in the middle of the shop as company employees worked to clean up what they could.

The fire caused $800,000 worth of damage. Dearth said the business was underinsured and will only be covered for the $400,000 of damage done to the building and not the $400,000 of inventory and equipment inside.

Four printers, costing $30,000 each, sit in the back of the shop now. Once used to print the decals that would be applied to customer’s vehicles, they now sit ruined, as a reminder of the significant loss the business must endure.

“For six years we’ve put a lot of work into building it up,” Dearth said of the business. “Every day we’re down, we’re losing money.”

The Wrap Factory doesn’t plan to be down long, however. New printers and equipment have been ordered and a building in the same development plaza is being prepared to move into. Dearth said they are hoping to be up and running within the next two weeks.

“I just want to say thanks to the firefighters who helped,” Trapp said.

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