BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) – While 59 News does not yet know the extent of the damage caused by the U-Haul fire on Ragland Road on Wednesday, November 18, 2021, we do know that several units were destroyed.
The Beckley Pride Organization is young. Officially, he’s two years old, but President Christina Baisden said they had made an impact on the community even before that date.
She said that over the past few months the impact has increased further.
“We’re pretty new and last June we were able to get the storage unit and we were able to buy a lot of big-ticket items like a grill to feed people at our Pride events,” Baisden said.
The air-conditioned unit was located at the U-Haul storage and relocation facility.
Baisden received a call from another member informing him of the fire. She told us that she went to the fire, praying not to see the worst. But, when she saw the damage and destruction, she knew her impact on their organization would be too hard to quantify.
“It’s a pretty devastating thing for such a young organization like us, we don’t have grants, we raise most of our money through fundraising,” Baisden said.
Baisden said if there was a silver lining, it was that the majority of the resources lost in the blaze were used for their main event in June.
“We have insurance on our unit, with the amount we have in there, what we’ll get back is pretty minimal,” Baisden said.
She believes it won’t affect the events they have planned for the near future and hopes they can fully recover by next year.
We will continue to report as authorities dive into the investigation.
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