ROCKINGHAM — Robert Lee had “no words” as he watched firefighters enter his business late Thursday night.
When the Rockingham Fire Department responded to a call at Rockingham Guns & Ammo just after 11 p.m., there was moderate smoke showing from the roof, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page.
“Crews made an aggressive interior attack for a quick knock down,” the post reads.
The department says the fire was the result of an electrical short.
After the smoke cleared and Lee went in to survey the damage, it appears that the fire started on or near the desk where his computer — which was destroyed — was sitting.
Soot covered the guns and the taxidermied animals on the walls.
What ammunition Lee had in stock was ruined.
A handgun in a broken display case had already started to rust.
Sitting in a low spot on East Broad Avenue, the gun shop has been flooded out multiple times in the past 17 years, according to Lee.
“Then smoke damage destroyed me.”
The Marine Corps veteran said he spent a lot of time cleaning the rifles and other firearms after getting hit twice during Hurricane Florence in 2017.
Prior to that storm, Lee said he lost $17,000 in ammunition during Hurricane Matthew.
“I could always fight back against the water,” Lee said Thursday night. “I can’t fight back against this.”
