Watching a video on YouTube in 2011, Bill Arnold, Service CreditUnion's chief information officer, was shocked to see one of thecredit union's branches had caught on fire and gone up in flames inthe middle of the night.

The next day, a Friday, he andother members of the $2.3 billion credit union's hierarchy,including CEO Gordon Simmons, and the board of directors sortedthrough their options. One primary concern was deciding whether tosend members to a shared branch, or continue to provide services atthe damaged location, said Arnold.

However, given the extent of damage to the site, the latterpossibility was quickly dismissed. At the same time, the closestother branch was almost 40 miles away, an unreasonable distance toexpect members to travel, he noted.

As a result, later that evening, it was decided the best coursewas reaching out to Rentsys Recovery Services, a provider ofcomprehensive disaster recovery solutions for banks, credit unions,mortgage lenders and other organizations.

Arnold contacted Rentsys' Walt Thomasson and spelled out for himthe condition of the branch and what the Portsmouth, N.H.-basedService Credit Union needed in order to resume operations there asquickly as possible.

Based on that breakdown, Thomasson laid out for Arnold theservices, parts and equipment, as well as manpower, that Rentsyswould provide, along with a timetable for delivery, completion ofthe job, and total expenses.

After his detailed discussions with Arnold, Thomasson was ableto ensure every item on the truck calibrated exactly with the needsat the damaged site, allowing the project to proceed seamlessly.“We basically did everything to reopen (the branch) and stay onschedule,” he said.

Arnold indicated that he then made the recommendation to sign aRentsys Declaration Document and signed the declaration, withSimmons' approval. It was the first time the credit union hadsigned such a document with Rentsys, headded.

Generally, Thomasson noted, “clients – in this case, Bill – areasked what's happening now and next by everyone at their company;they want immediate information. The sooner we get that tocustomers like Bill, the sooner they can respond. And when wecomplete the work and make good on our promises, they'reheroes.”

Thomasson explained that had the credit union's Falmouth branchsustained relatively minor damage, such as the downing of a serveror two, the credit union might have considered holding off onsigning a Declaration Document and instead opted to simply allowthe situation to play out. But because the fire had essentiallydestroyed the branch, the credit union's decision to make thedeclaration was a relatively obvious one, said Thomasson.

Within four hours after being informed of the SCU decision,Rentsys had everything required for the job on its dock and readyto ship. “We can get there before they're ready for it,” saidThomasson of the load, which reached its destination, along with aRentsys crew, the next morning.

Added Arnold: “(Rentsys) met our staff (at the site) andimmediately identified our recovery objectives in order to get usup and running.”

In all, four Rentsys associates, including a site coordinator,communications technician, field engineers and drivers supportedthe onsite recovery efforts for Service Credit Union. Among theequipment used was a mobile banking center with Diebold Securityoption. Fiber was used for communications, VOIP phone system, andnetwork infrastructure.

“A lot of things were happeningreal fast,” noted Thomasson. In fact, Rentsys worked so fast andefficiently that it had the technology and data backup needed forSCU to continue business as normal by Monday morning, Arnoldnoted.

Ironically, however, the town hadn't yet even issued the creditunion the necessary permits allowing it to reopen, he said. So,instead, operations temporarily resumed from a trailer in theparking lot.

One factor that helped facilitate the relatively rapidturnaround was that the damage caused by the fire, which erupted inthe structure's roof, causing the roof to collapse, spared thefacility's ATM machine and networking capabilities, saidArnold.

That allowed Rentsys to get the credit union's ATM andcommunication network back up sooner than expected, hecontinued.

“We didn't anticipate recovering that soon and were at the pointwhere they couldn't do anything else because they were waiting onthe town to issue permits,” said Arnold.

While he doesn't know how much a prolonged shutdown of thebranch would have cost the credit union, Arnold noted that sincemany of the town's leaders use the branch, “I think it wouldhaven't been more difficult for us the longer we remained close. Wewere more concerned about our ability to provide service than howmuch our income suffered. Our reputation would have taken a hit,”said Arnold.

Rentsys is based in College Station, Texas, and said it servesmore than 1,900 contracted locations through its recovery centerlocations in College Station, Billerica, Mass., and PleasantPrairie, Wis.