CROSSVILLE, Tenn. — Crossville Fire Rescue said a fire that broke out Monday evening at the Woodmere Mall shopping center was ruled as arson. They said the fire resulted in around $1.2 million in damage.
They said that when crews arrived, they found smoke filling a Brush Salon store and an adjacent Dollar General store. People inside the building were quickly evacuated and firefighters started trying to prevent the fire from spreading, CFR said.
"We were able to get everyone safely out of the Dollar General store," Chief Chris South said.
They said CFR crews helped stop it from spreading alongside crews from the Cumberland County Fire Department. Around 60 personnel from several agencies were on the scene for around four-and-a-half hours to put out the fire.
CFR also said they wanted to thank Crossville Police, Cumberland County EMA, Cumberland County EMS and Volunteer Electric for helping put out the fire.
They said the fire started in the crawlspace of the building beneath the salon. The building had fire, smoke and water damage and was closed for repairs.
"That's where the fire started and originated and spread from there doing quite a bit of damage to the underneath of the building and then actually penetrating into the blush salon and the dollar general," South said.
They said an investigation into the fire is ongoing and anyone with information about it should call Deputy Chief Terry Potter or Fire Cheif Chris South at 931-484-6144.
Anyone can also submit tips anonymously to East Tennessee Valley Crimestoppers.
"Hopefully we will be able to find them and make an arrest," South said.
The day before, on Sunday, they said crews also responded to a silo fire that took around five hours to extinguish fully.
They said sawdust inside the silo helped start the fire and around 20 firefighters worked to put that fire out as well. They did not say that the silo fire was determined to be arson.