Abandoned hospital burns

Firefighters work 10 hours to bring blaze under control

October 24, 2018 by Crystal Huskey

(Update 10/25/18, 11:20 a.m.: This article originally stated that a gas line had been feeding the fire. This was incorrect. The gas line has been deactivated at this site since 2012, according to Powell Clinch Utilities. The Courier News apologizes for the error.)

The cause of the fire that ultimately destroyed the old hospital at 901 South Main Street last Wednesday in Rocky Top is still under investigation.

According to Rocky Top Fire Chief Ronnie Spitzer, firefighters worked a total of 10 hours to combat the blaze.

“They’ve been at it all day,” he said then.

The fire was first reported just before 5:15 a.m.

The state Fire Marshall is involved and has sent material to the TBI crime lab, according to Spitzer.

“Everyone got out safely,” he said, referring to the firefighters.

One firefighter went to the hospital for smoke inhalation but was released soon after.

According to Rocky Top City Manager Michael Foster, the public works department helped significantly by keeping traffic flowing. They shut down Main Street and re-routed motorists to side streets for most of the morning.

“The water department was on top of it, too,” Foster said. “The water pressure was great and we didn’t have any issues there.”

The fire department responded within one minute of the call, according to Foster. A total of 14 firefighters from Rocky Top and Clinton fought the blaze. The local McDonald’s and Weigel’s each brought food and water to the firefighters at different times of the day, according to Spitzer.

The building has been closed for at least five years, according to Spitzer. It was most recently an addiction recovery center and is still owned by the people that ran that.

“We did a walk through about a year ago,” Spitzer said, “and parts of the ceiling had fallen in. You could see out the roof. Structurally, the building wasn’t in good shape at all.”

The building, due to its age, had asbestos, most likely lead paint and black mold.

“There had been people staying in there,” he confirmed. “We don’t know who they were, but that may have contributed, although it may have been an accidental thing.”

The fire started at the front of the building.

While the fire department typically only responds to one house fire a year, this is the third fire in two months. Two residential homes burned down within seven days of each other, according to Spitzer, with another one in the same time frame that was just outside the city limits. The state Fire Marshal is investigating those as well.

According to Foster, the property will be cleaned up sooner than later.

“We’ll move quickly on it,” he said. “It won’t sit there long.”