By Duncan Mansfield
The Associated Press
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A spectacular fire early Wednesday destroyed a row of vacant downtown warehouses, injuring three firefighters who had to climb down a hose to safety.
Flying embers also started a brief fire at a homeless shelter a block away and forced officials to evacuate another old building that had been converted to condominiums and businesses near the Old City entertainment district.
“It was unbelievable,” said Fire Capt. Darrell Whitaker. “It was raining fire.”
The cause of the blaze had not been determined. It was under control by midmorning “but it is certainly not out,” Whitaker said. Residents were allowed to return by dawn.
The three firefighters were injured when a fourth floor in the warehouses flashed into flames and they had to climb down a fire hose to escape, officials said. They were treated for burns but would not require skin grafts, Whitaker said.
Firefighters also had to run when a 50-foot-long section of wall wobbled, then crashed onto a fire engine, burying it in debris.
City spokesman Randy Kenner said firefighters found two of the five buildings that made up the historic C.M. McClung & Co. hardware supply warehouses engulfed in flames when they arrived shortly after 1 a.m.
The brick warehouses, with common walls and heavy timber floors, were built between 1893 to 1927 and had been vacant for years.