Owners of Storage Units Burned in Alleged Arson Speak Out
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PARIS, Tenn. — Suspected arson burns up a lifetime of memories, leaving nothing but ashes at TRW Storage in Paris. Company owner Tony Wade said his customers lost at least $500,000 worth of property. “I put a gate up, a fence and security cameras thinking these people’s stuff was safe, and I never dreamed of a fire coming along and cleaning out 20 units,” Wade said. Doug Peppers said he lost an old Corvette and two Harley Davidson motorcycles from his unit. The car was a replica of the one Peppers said he was driving when he first met his wife. “Being that we don’t keep things that much, it’s just rare that we do, that was an important car to us,” Peppers said. Peppers wasn’t the only customer who suffered a major loss. “(There was) a young lady walking up and finding all of her father’s belongings were gone, and another young man that had just sold his house and lost all his personal belongings with it,” Peppers said. Jason Gunter, a contractor for the Marines who’s serving in Afghanistan, lost a 1951 Chevrolet Deluxe his father left him when he died. “The idea that his father left it to him and he was at service at this time and lost it, that has to be pretty tough,” Peppers said. Tony Wade said as people come and go to see what was lost or what still remains from their storage units, it’s devastating. But he said it does give some satisfaction to see Joe Smith behind bars, charged with arson. “You reap what you sow,” Wade said. “Bad things happen to people that do bad things. He’s going to get what’s coming to him.”
