Company president and chief executive officer (CEO) Glenn Yocca told Window Film magazine in an exclusive interview, “We were fortunate no one was hurt … Business wasn’t in operation so no one was here and no one was hurt.”

Despite losing the building, the company remains open for business.

“We’re still operating; we have to double-up our efforts because of the fire situation and to maintain our jobs. We mostly have virtual, cloud-based servers; we do have some hardware, but those servers were backed up … Our whole company has iPads and iPhones, so we don’t really have a lot of “hard” things [we lost],” said David Morris, marketing manager.

“A lot of our business—because we travel all over the country for jobs and as a result of [the modern] business environment—is virtual so we’re fortunate this isn’t going to hurt us,” added Yocca. “We are going to rebuild though but it will be a longer process. We plan to set up a temporary place for the time, but even as president and CEO my office is in my truck most of the time.”

Yocca also said anyone who currently has a job contracted through the company “can have peace of mind; our systems may have a couple of glitches but it’s not going to hold us back, it’s business as usual.”

“You don’t ever see yourself in this spot, but everyone is healthy,” said Yocca. “We’re up for the challenge.

“It’s great to get the support from everyone,” he added. “We appreciate knowing that we have a nice support network and that people do care and at the end of the day that’s what it’s really about.”

Anyone wishing to contact the shop may reach out to Yocca through the contact information provided on the company’s website.

Looking at the damage which resulted from the meteor, it begs the question; just how could window films have helped reduced some of the overall impact?

While there is no question that even the most durable film in the world could not have stopped the actual meteor—which was the largest to fall since 1908, at 10,000 tons and 55 feet in diameter, according to the Wall Street Journal—could security attachments have prevented minor glass damage from the debris and shock of the meteor?

“Basically what the film would do is hold the glass together,” says George Emerson, sales representative for Pro-Tection Seattle Inc.

While the film could not have prevented the external building destruction and glass breakage, it could have helped prevent some of the internal damage, as well as injuries.

“What would have happened is the blast would have just caused the glass to peel back like a banana, but the glass wouldn’t go flying around,” says Emerson.

“From what I understand, a lot of the injury came from glass breakage,” says Glenn Yocca, president of U.S. Film Crew. “Any time you have glass breakage, window film helps contain the glass fragments. Security film would have been a major benefit.”

How can dealers help prepare consumers for events like this?

“I think something like this brings awareness of the unexpected,” says Yocca. “This is very much an unpredicted event, but there are other events, such as a hurricane which may be more anticipated; this event raises the awareness that some happenings are so unexpected and I think dealers can bring that up to consumers.”

“It’s just an additional step added for safety and security,” Yocca adds. “It’s something that’s in place; once it’s installed, you have that peace of mind.”

U.S. Film Crew completed this 872 window installation in eight days.

Chris Aycock, owner of SunProtection in Cary, N.C., says he contacted U.S. Film Crew for help with the project.

“Once I heard who U.S. Film Crew had worked with and completed projects for, it was no problem calling them for this project,” he says.

With more than 20 years in the window film industry, Aycock was concerned about the time frame for this end-of-year project, especially considering his crew already had ongoing jobs. “We just couldn’t secure our own staff in such short time,” he says.

With less than ten days to prepare and two weeks to complete the install, Yocca says he was not fazed, adding, “I trust my crew, their experience and our strategy to effectively handle this type of work deadline.”

The install actually ended up being a little smaller than anticipated.

“It started out as more than 21,000 then they cut off the fifth floor because construction wasn’t finished so it ended up being 16,626 square feet and 872 windows,” says Yocca.

The team finished the installation of Llumar 2-mil solar film eight days ahead of schedule, the night before Christmas.

As for difficulties, Yocca says, “We had some blinds go down on us because of automated sensors, so that always makes it a little difficult. We also had to work with the office on some certain high-security areas and schedule access.”

“[The install was] very efficient with limited information in a short period of time. I was impressed,” says Aycock.