According to the local paper (Lake Sun Leader) Woodland Scenics had a major fire this afternoon. Not sure what this does for their production and/or inventory.
Here's my latest Woodland Scenics kit. It's a service truck and a joy to build. I built it a few days ago.
Makes the costs of everything go up to pay for the fire damage I bet. Hope it didn't end their production line.
This must be really bad! Remember we are also talking about Design Preservation Models. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/jan/05/columbia-firefighters-headed-lake-ozarks-area/ http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/story.aspx?id=704154
Evidently it was really bad! http://www.lakenewsonline.com/news/...-Linn-Creek-business-displaces-area-residents
Hi Guys According to KY3 news out of Springfield the fire destroyed two of the three buildings on the site that were used in production of scenery products. I have no idea what this will do to the availability of Woodland Scenic Products. I have included a link to a YouTube video of the fire. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJTFqQgUq_c&feature=youtu.be George
That is bad news. I use a lot of their stuff too. And it is really bad news to a bunch of Woodland Scenics employees. Woodland Scenics is surely a strong enough company to rebuild. Good news (unless you have lost your job to outsourcing) is much of their stuff is now made overseas. All pre-assembled and painted vehicles, figures and structures are made in China. The static grass is made in the Netherlands. Dale Rush
Good point Ethan! Missouri has enough walnut trees to ballast every layout several inches deep. I couldn't find a bag of Woodland Scenics ballast to check the origin. I have been using Arizona Scenery ballast...made from real Arizona rocks, which they have plenty of too. Dale Rush Carthage, MO
Some of their stuff may not be available for a while, but they'll probably rebuild. That's what fire insurance is for. Tom G.
Here here. I would be gobsmacked if a company of their size did not have a good, comprehensive insurance plan covering their building, machinery, inventory, loss of income coverage due to covered loss, etc. The fire was big news on KOMU-TV this morning. 120 firefighters, including crews from Columbia and Jefferson City. That's a big fire. http://www.komu.com/news/units-from-around-mid-missouri-battle-large-fire-at-lake/ Best Regards,
The really good news in all this is that a bunch of people were involved, employees and firefighters, and nobody was injured. Chris, I would suspect your assesment is correct unless they were underinsured. I sat down with my agent last year and found out Blair Line was way underinsured due to growth of the company, inventory and equipment over the years. I always knew that I was somewhat underinsured, gambling that we would never have a total loss of everything. The Joplin tornado in May changed my way of thinking. The Woodland Scenics fire confirms it. We are located in the country, several miles from the nearest fire hydrant, so a fire with all of our basswood, paper and plastics would surely be catastrophic to my business. Dale Rush Blair Line
Woodland Scenics basically was downtown Linn Creek. A bunch of older buildings interconnected over time. All employees did return to work this morning in the only building left unaffected by the fire. I would hope that Ozment was a good businessman and had decent coverage. One thing about this area, there are pleanty of unoccupied production buildings available should he decide to move to more production-friendly facility.
This following has been posted to other forums today: "Dear all, As you may have heard we have experienced a fire here at Woodland Scenics and there is good news and bad news. The good news is that no one was hurt during the fire or evacuation process. The bad news is that it took out a couple of our manufacturing buildings. However, and fortunately, there is more good news than bad. We encompass multiple buildings that are spread out all over the town of Linn Creek. We only lost two of those buildings and those two contained just a small portion of our manufacturing facilities. Our shipping department, warehouse and corporate offices were spared any damage, as were most of our manufacturing buildings, so it is business as usual. Thanks for all your concerns. Respectfully, Gale Cousins Director of Sales & Customer Service Woodland Scenics"
That's interesting, Dale. Good for you for touching base with your agent, or good for him/her for contacting you to review your coverage. Be it business or personal (home, personal property) insurance, one of the more common causes I see of underinsurance is that people/businesses acquire more "stuff" over time. Even if one's policy carries some sort of "inflation protection" that rolls up coverage ever year or so, it's typically not enough when a significant or total loss strikes. Indeed, the Joplin tornado shifted a lot of people's paradigms, if I can use the business cliché. Sadly, with most folks and their insurance, it's a matter of what former NBA coach Frank Layden experienced with a player once: Coach: "What's the matter with you today? Is it ignorance or is it apathy?" Player: "Coach, I don't know, and I don't care."
Terry, I can only attest to what I've personally done: the last "personal property" inventory that I did for our family involved simply including the total of all of my items under our personal property. I really don't have anything that's of significant enough monetary value to warrant looking for specialized coverage. The value of most of my actual Frisco items is intangible, and I've yet to find a policy that puts a dollar amount on sentimentality. That said, anyone with doubts is probably best advised to look at their own policy/policies, and then contact their insurer/agent with any questions as clarification is needed. Best Regards,