LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A weekend fire has a Lexington business owner rebuilding after flames and water destroyed the interior.
Laura Mobley-Corn bought her office of Express Employment Professionals four years ago. The business helps people find jobs, and it also connects companies with potential employees. Though she’s used to helping her clients find jobs, Mobley-Corn has a lot of work cut out for herself.
“Someone broke the windows on the side there and threw some accelerant into the window and lit it on fire,” she said. “The fire burnt the wall. There was a chair and a table. Thank heaven the sprinkler systems did their job, but they also did a number on the rest of the office as well.”
A wood board now sits in the place of a glass pane. The sprinkler system did its job in suppressing the fire, keeping the flames from taking over the whole building.
Because the fire happened in the early hours of Saturday morning, however, Mobley-Corn estimates the sprinklers ran for three to four hours. It flooded the inside of the office, doing more than $100,000 in damages.
“I don't understand someone doing this,” Mobley-Corn said. “They've destroyed the whole inside of my office, everything, pens, papers, things that I need to run my business.”
“It doesn't just hurt me. It hurts my internal employees, single moms, young girls just out of college paying their bills, and it hurts my candidates that are coming in looking for jobs.”
In the days since the fire, business owners and friends have been active in helping the office. It gives Mobley-Corn more confidence that she will rebuild.
“If you thought you were going to hurt us and put us out of business, you're not,” she said. “We will prevail.”
