KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — The Knoxville Fire Department (KFD) said a rise in fires at Knoxville College is due to an increase in trespassing at Knoxville College's campus buildings.
Mark Wilbanks, assistant fire chief with KFD, said the department responds to around five calls about fires a year at the mostly-dormant college campus. However, he said what KFD is most concerned about is a spike in the number of illegal trespassers.
KFD responded to a fire on the second floor of an empty residence hall at Knoxville College early Sunday. Wilbanks said KFD is still figuring out how the fire started, but he said they have some ideas.
"Some folks have, over time, illegally brought different combustible materials into the building," he said. "For whatever reason, those were set on fire. Highly unlikely that it was a warming fire; it could have been a cooking fire; it could have been a fire just for light."
There is no one currently living on campus. Knoxville College has been mostly closed for years. Wilbanks said, though, over the years they have responded to multiple fires on campus.
"Typically what we see is people come onto the campus illegally and they set fires for various reasons," he said. "We have seen some malicious fires over the years. Typically, it is folks that have come in and just started a fire, thrill-seeking type of fires that we have seen. We have seen warming fires in the winter months before from unhoused individuals."
Wilbanks said they see around five fires a year on the historically Black campus, which is trying to get back its accreditation. He said, however, that people living near campus should not be concerned about fires spreading out.
"Most of the buildings on campus are what we call non-combustible or concrete type buildings," Wilbanks said. "So, even if there is a fire in the building, the building is safe and in relatively decent shape as far as the structure goes."
The assistant fire chief said people should call 911 if they see someone enter the campus illegally.