Everything else went up in flames.

In one night, a fire that began from faulty wiring in Horner's 37,500-square-foot store ravaged almost an entire block. It damaged or destroyed seven businesses and smoldered for five days.

"I had no idea what steps to take," said Chuck Mattingly, Horner's president.

Now Horner's owners are learning what they did right and wrong in preparing for a disaster.

It's a lesson many small-business owners could stand to hear.

"Small-business owners are so busy keeping their businesses going that they say, 'I don't have time to plan for disaster,' " said Diana McClure, director of public safety strategies for the Institute for Business & Home Safety in Tampa.

"But when something happens, they sure wish they had."

Though business owners may not be able to save their building, with the right planning they may be able to save their business.

Jim and Angela Bethurem opened their Jeffersonville business, New Millennium Mortgage, in 1999. After taking stock of their assets, they bought only liability insurance because they had little equipment and no employees.

When fire crept onto the roof of the building they rented, the Bethurems had 12 employees at that location, and $30,000 to $40,000 in equipment. Most of the equipment was intact, but some suffered smoke and water damage.

Owners should evaluate their insurance plans to make sure they cover the cost of the physical loss, McClure said, as well as the expense of getting set up again and the loss of income during the down time.

"We should have revisited it," Jim Bethurem said. "Insurance is always good when you need it and always expensive when you don't."

The Bethurems and other business owners who have multiple locations think having an alternative place to work will be the biggest factor in their survival. McClure suggested businesses with one location consider an agreement with a business in the same industry that allows either company to use temporary space in case of disaster.

"The business stops, but the bills don't," Jim Bethurem said.

He wishes he'd had business interruption insurance, which covers bills and other costs that owners can't pay while they're getting set up again.

Horner's Mattingly had business interruption insurance, helping him pay a handful of his 25 employees to help him get the business running again.

Mattingly, who had the location since 1988, lost years of vital business information he wishes he had duplicated.

Heat warped backup computer tapes stored in fireproof boxes. Though a data-recovery company was able to retrieve the information, he still didn't have contact numbers for vendors, financial reports or inventory data.

He suggests businesses store copies of all important records at a separate location. Those records may include leases, incorporation papers, contact numbers, and anything else necessary in case of a disaster or to file an insurance claim.

Horner Vice President Greg Kloss already has planned how the new Horner will be bigger and better.

Kloss recalls the themed displays he used to set up in the front window. So many people wanted to know where he got them that he took pictures. But, as he recounts it, he puts his hand over his mouth.