LOUDON, Tenn. — The roof on the nearly 150 year-old Loudon County courthouse collapsed in on itself after a devastating fire Tuesday night, but the county mayor pledged to rebuild and reopen the historic building.
More than 50 firefighters from across the county worked into the early hours of the morning fighting the flames.
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"A couple times we had to back them up because the smoke conditions were so intense that even standing 100 feet away the smoke was really affecting people," Fire Chief Mike Brubaker said.
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County Mayor Bubby Bradshaw says preliminary indications show it started in the bell tower, likely because of an electrical short.
The building -- built in 1872 -- didn't have fire protection upgrades like sprinklers.
"With it being a historical building, you have to get -- it's like an act of Congress to hang a picture in it," Bradshaw said, explaining the reason for the lack of upgrades.
Brubaker says the second floor is a total loss. That's where the courtroom was. Officials are still trying to figure out the extent of the damage to offices and records kept on the floors below.
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"It's still unknown what is salvageable," Bradshaw said.
Complicating that effort: the building is no longer stable.
"If the ceiling was to go -- it's just going to throw bricks everywhere at a very dangerous velocity," he said.
For now, most court services and offices in the building are moving to the Old London City Hall.
The mayor says it could take three years and several million dollars to repair, but he says the courthouse doors will open again.
"It wasn't just a building to us. This was a staple of our community and our county," Bradshaw said. "We're going to rebuild. Make no doubt about it. We're going to rebuild and we're going to rebuild better, and at the end of this stuff -- we're going to be better for it."