JEFFERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Editor's Note: The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office originally said no one was hurt in the fire. The Jefferson County Sheriff said later that one person was hurt and a firefighter was treated for heat exhaustion.
Update (4/9):
The Jefferson County Sheriff, Jeff Coffey, said one person was taken to the hospital with second-degree burns to his face after a severe fire at an auto sales store. Dandridge Volunteer Fire Chief Andrew Riley said the person was not an employee.
"There was there was a gentleman there, a 30-year-old male, that was there at the time the fire started," said Riley. "He was inside the shop with some other employees inside the shop and, come to find out, he actually had what looked to be flesh burns on his face and neck area. And he was treated by Jefferson County EMS paramedics on the scene and was transported to UT Medical Center with third-degree burns."
One firefighter was also treated at the scene for heat exhaustion. The fire is believed to have started in a garage lift. Accelerants in the garage caused an explosion, according to Coffey.
Riley said the fire is still under investigation.
"We have heard that it looks like there was something that may be involving a vehicle lift inside that building that may have started, but we don't know 100% yet," said Riley. "We've got to get in there and get all the rubble off of it and basically reconstruct the scene to see what happened."
The initial call regarding the fire came in at 5:30 p.m., but it took "well into the night" for crews to extinguish it, Coffey said. The Dandridge Fire Department is in charge of the investigation.
Riley said seven total fire departments responded to the fire through a mutual aid plan.
He said the fire was pretty much extinguished on Monday night, about five or six hours after the call came in, but around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, another call came in about the fire re-sparking. Riley says this is common for a building of its size.
Riley said the estimated loss in damages is about $1 million.
"There's three separate buildings on this particular piece of property here," said Riley. "And so the building that caught on fire is totally destroyed and had about 10 to 12 vehicles that were right next to the building itself that they work on for at the salvage yard. They were damaged also along with a Conex box to use for storage was damaged."
Jasper Jones Auto Sales reopened for business on Tuesday.
Previous:
The Jefferson County Sheriff's Office said Monday that crews were responding to a severe fire at an auto parts store.
The sheriff said the fire fully involved the store's garage after work was done in it. He also said no injuries were reported. It was reported at the Jasper Jones Auto Parts.
The sheriff's office also said that Highway 25-70 at Dumplin Valley Road was closed both ways while crews responding to the fire.
Additional information, such as the circumstances surrounding the fire and its full damage to the building, was not immediately available. This story will be updated when more information is available.