Despite fire, Hovis Truck Services got back to business quickly
It didn’t take long for Hovis Truck Service and Sales in Emlenton, Venango County, to resume towing and repairing trucks after a fire destroyed its main building a little more than a year ago.
An early morning fire on Jan. 9, 2022, at the company’s facility at 6010 Emlenton Clintonville Road destroyed the building that housed its service trucks, new parts and offices. The building as well as its contents were a total loss.
Fortunately, storage for most of the company's equipment, tow trucks and recovery equipment was in other buildings.
Towing and repair work resumed shortly after the fire, and retrofitting another building on the property that would serve as repair shop, new parts storage and office space will be completed soon, said Curtis Hovis, company controller.
He said the company has two other buildings on the property that are equal in size to the one that was destroyed, and it’s one of those buildings that is being retrofitted. A new storage building will be constructed next year, he said.
“We were towing within one or two days. Within a couple weeks, we had the repair facility functioning properly,” Hovis said.
“We had everything pretty well back in operation this summer,” Hovis said.
He said new parts are being acquired from outside sources to avoid having a large inventory until the parts room is complete, but getting the office functioning was the key to getting the business back in business.
“Losing the office was the hardest thing to get around. The office was the biggest obstacle to keeping the business end of things flowing,” Hovis said.
The new office is more efficient and comfortable than the old one because of better insulation, high-efficiency natural gas heat, new computers and fiber optic internet service.
“Fiber wasn’t available before. It’s faster than DSL,” Hovis said.
Community support also helped the company following the fire.
Hovis said an area business lent the company a service truck until it was able to replace the trucks that were destroyed in the fire.
“We received great support from the area. A lot of people have been very supportive to help us adjust to our needs,” Hovis said.
Some of that support came from Hovis Auto and Truck Supply, which is owned by other family members, he said.
Through it all, the company also has been able to keep the same number of about 20 employees working as they did before the fire, he said.
