LOUDON, Tenn. — Crews from across Loudon County have extinguished the flames that engulfed the county courthouse Tuesday night and caused devastating damage to the structure.
The nearly 150-year-old historic courthouse has been deemed a "significant if not total loss," according to county mayor Buddy Bradshaw.
"We've got many hard weeks and months ahead of us as we look to recover from last night's events," Buddy Bradshaw, Loudon County Mayor, said in a press conference. "This has been a very trying time."
No one was hurt in the fire, and EMS crew were on scene in case someone got hurt and to make sure fire teams and people nearby were able to stay hydrated.
Dark plumes of smoke could be seen high up into the air far outside the city center as flames roared out of the top of the building and top floor windows.
"It was an ongoing battle," Mayor Bradshaw said. "Just the way the courthouse is placed it was very difficult to get on top of the fire."
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When the call initially came in around 6:30 p.m., crews were able to get there within minutes and were quickly seen battling flames coming from the roof at the courthouse at 601 Grove Street.
Crews had thought the fire to be nearly under control during the evening, but as they worked to put out hot spots -- the flames made a resurgence and began engulfing the upper floor.
Fire crews from City of Loudon, Loudon County, Lenoir City, Philadelphia, Greenback and Tellico Village fire departments responded, with 45 firefighters and 5 EMS staff on the scene.
The intersections of Cedar St. and Grove St. is blocked, as is Cedar St. and Poplar St. Highway 11 had also been closed, but was reopened around 6:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The flames spread throughout the upper floor of courthouse as the night went on, despite the best efforts of fire teams. Crews have made significant progress extinguishing the flames, and by 10 p.m. had taken a pause from spraying the exterior of the courthouse to head inside the building. Crews were still on the scene as of 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The Loudon County fire chief, Mike Brubaker, said the ceiling of the second floor collapsed, which is where the courtrooms of the building are and suffered a lot of damage. The roof is sagging, but technically still there. The first and second floors of the building are fairly stable-- firefighters were able to walk around on both levels.
The building's attic, however, went up in flames.
With the courthouse being an old building, Brubaker said there were a lot of air pockets where flames would go and they had to work hard to get in those small spaces.
One of the largest struggles teams faced Tuesday night was getting fire engines close enough to the building to get the flames out, as the building sits far back and the closest they could get was within 50 feet.
"They've done a great job in combating the fire, and keeping the damage where it is. Say your prayers for our firefighters, they keep battling this and it may go through the night," he said.
The courthouse is considered one of the focal points of the community's history, sitting in the middle of the town square and having been there since the late 1800s.
"It's unbelievable that this has happened, it's devastating to the community."
The people of Loudon said they won't let its history die with this fire, though, saying if they could, they would have been right there with firefighters battling it.
Hundreds had gathered to watch all night as flames kept erupting from the building.
Crews were handing out masks to onlookers due to massive amounts of smoke billowing out of the structure as volunteers handed out water, Gatorade and pizza to first responders.
The mayor said all county court functions, from criminal court to the law library, were housed inside the building.
It also held a number of old historical records.
The courthouse was still used daily, housing seven different offices, including the chancery court, circuit court, criminal court, clerk and master, probation and parole, child support and a Tennessee soil conservation group.
Now, the people who work there will relocate to another building, possibly for up to a year or more as they assess the damage and work to rebuild.
The bailiff told 10News they had 26 inmates brought down for hearings on Monday, but will now have to find somewhere else to hold them.
There were about 10 to 15 full-time employees who worked in the building, but people were constantly coming and going, including dozens of attorneys.
Loudon County councilman Tim Brewster shared this image with 10News earlier in the evening before the flames engulfed much of the top floor-- showing the courthouse's top bell tower dome charred as plumes of smoke rose out of it.
Loudon County authorities said no one was inside the building at the time the fire started, which happened after hours. Investigators haven't determined how the fire started, and have called in an arson unit to investigate as a precaution.
Mayor Bradshaw also said the city is looking at using the old Loudon City Hall to hold court, and that the city will try to continue running as smooth as possible. An exception is jury trial. Those will be at the new Loudon City Hall.
He added that the city cannot definitively say what it will cost to repair the building, but that he estimates the city is probably looking at $3 to $4 million dollars in damages.