On April 17, Beckham County residents awoke to the shocking news that long-time iconic clothing and outerwear store had perished in a fiery inferno.
Circle A Western and Outdoor Wear, an Elk City institution since 1980, had burned down.
Elk City Fire Department Chief Kyle Chervenka said he believed the fire started from an old vent in the bathroom.
“That is a common cause for fires,” Chervenka said.
Owner Edward Albert, who operates the business now with his son Sam, received a phone call at approximately 5 am. He flew his plane from the Oklahoma City metro area and arrived in Elk City about 45 minutes later.
Edward and Sam looked at the building in sheer disbelief.
“This has just been another reminder of how incredible Elk City is as a community,” Edward said. “The first had likely been going, slow-burning, for hours but couldn’t be seen from the outside until it hit the roof. Brian Hutchinson was driving to the gym at 4:45 am, a dedication I applaud, and fortunately saw it. The Elk City Fire Department was on the scene within minutes. I can’t say enough about the work they did. Chief Chervenka even brought his generator over so we could salvage as much of our personal items as possible.”
Sam echoes his father’s sentiments,” That, after all, is just a building. We know that. Circle A is truly the people — our employees and our wonderful customers. All of those things can be replaced. But it is still hard. So many of our family memories took place here. Those memories include some of our beloved family members who are no longer with us. That is the hard part, but we know they would insist that we rebuild.”
And rebuilding is the plan — a rapidly moving plan at that.
“We are moving into the old Sears building across the street and are planning to be open
