KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Fire Department responded to a fire at the vacant Standard Knitting Mill at 1201 Abilene Place on Sunday.
Crews responded to the reports around 10:50 a.m. When they arrived, crews noticed smoke coming from the second floor of the structure, KFD said.
As units were arriving, several people were seen running from the building. KFD's Fire Investigation Unit detained one person and the Knoxville Police Department detained two others, according to KFD.
Once upstairs, crews found what appeared to be a piece of furniture on fire. The fire was quickly extinguished, KFD said.
The Standard Knitting Mill was founded in 1900 with 50 employees. By the 1930s, Standard was the largest textile and knitting mill in Knoxville and employed over 4,000 Knoxvillians.
The current building footprint still comes in at over 400,000 square feet and was the home of Delta Apparel until 2007.
Fire investigators are continuing to look into the fire.