THATCHER — A small electrical fire, contained to one room, has temporarily closed one of the Gila Valley’s most popular salons, and has almost two dozen independent contractors scrambling for income.
The fire at Images Salon and Day Spa took place after midnight Monday morning, and was contained to one message room.
However, the chemicals used to douse the fire — along with the smoke, ash and smell — have forced the closure of the salon and every item needs to be decontaminated. The time estimated to get the stylists’ their items and the salon re-opened is upward of four weeks.
While insurance should cover repairs for the building, because each stylist, nail tech and other service provider is an independent contractor, insurance will not cover the cost to decontaminate their tools.
Jackie Hewitt, owner of Images, said she is covering the cosmetologists’ costs, but there is still the need for these people to keep a steady income.
“In the salon industry, as a stylist, you depend on your clientele. When it’s time for a haircut, or a color, or your nails to be done, it’s time,” Hewitt said. “Unfortunately, we’re not going to wait on people to come back to work. They’re going to get their services done somewhere. So the possibility of these people losing some clientele, it could happen.”
So Hewitt is asking the cosmetology industry to help their own.
“I would love to see the salons, our local salons, reach out and help these guys,” Hewitt said. “I’m OK; it’s them. Some of these people are single mothers.”
She said the help could be as simple as offering the stylists extra tools to use while theirs are cleaned, up to offering use of a chair on a temporary basis.
To help, contact Hewitt at 928-965-0888.
