Strong winds from storms ripped the roof off a Blount County fire station early Friday morning, causing 'tremendous' damage.
Fire Chief Doug McClanahan said it happened at Blount County Fire Station No. 2 off East Broadway Avenue in Maryville.
A captain was on duty at the time when he heard a 'big noise.' When he went to look out one of the windows, everything was pitch black.
McClanahan said the captain soon realized that the black roofing on their building had been torn off and was blocking the window.
With most of the roof removed, heavy rain began seeping inside the station.
"There's going to be a tremendous amount of damage because of the heavy rains at the time. There's a tremendous amount of water inside, so damage-wise it's going to hurt us," Chief McClanahan said.
Crews were working to mitigate the damage and are trying to get the roof covered ahead of more rain this weekend.
McClanahan said they are hoping to get the station repaired quickly, In the meantime, he said they will have to likely post up somewhere else to ensure crews and fire protection equipment are as close by that area as possible.