Bryant Business Forced to Close for Fire Code Violations

A Saline County business is such a hazard, it got shut down Tuesday. The fire chief and code inspector roped off New Day Junktiques, along the I-30 access road and put up signs, warning the public it`s not open for business. They inspected it four times this year and each time found a list of code violations, that include poor wiring, a blocked entrance and a lack of proper fire extinguishers and exit signs. The business owner, Jim Buchanan, told News 4 Arkansas, that he might just sell out, instead of fix all the problems. Bryant Fire Chief Randy Cox said, "We`ve given him warnings, we`ve written him up and we`re at the point where we had to take actions today I mean the cut off was yesterday so we had to take actions today. It`s at the conditions right now, if we had a fire in here right now, I would not permit my firefighters to go in for their safety we would fight it from the outside." The owner cannot open up for business, until he brings everything up to code and calls out the inspectors to check it over. If he tries to re-open without permission, chief cox said they would have to arrest him. The Bryant city fire department and code enforcement office must inspect each of the 450 businesses in town, every year. Chief Cox also told News 4 Arkansas that this is the first time they had to shut a business now, in the four years they`ve been inspecting businesses.