Fire caused considerable damage to a Hixson gift shop Sunday morning, but the damage could have been a lot worse, if not for an alert parking attendant at Central Baptist Church.
Around 10 a.m., as families were arriving for morning services at the church, the attendant noticed smoke coming from the Seasons in Time gift shop across the street.
The attendant knew there was a fire station (Station 19) next door, so he quickly ran to the station to notify the firefighters on duty.
Firefighters with Quint 19 and Squad 2 responded, along with four other fire companies, to 5141 Hixson Pike.
Captain Jody Houstrup with Quint 19 said flames were shooting out the front display window when they arrived on the scene. The firefighters quickly took hand-held hoselines and attacked the fire inside the structure. Captain Houstrup said they were able to get the fire under control in roughly 15 minutes.
Two adjacent businesses sustained some smoke damage, but the rest of the businesses in that strip mall were all saved.
Captain Tim Hustad, filling in as a Battalion Chief, said the firefighters did an excellent job of limiting the damage. "It's unfortunate that a business was destroyed," said Hustad, "but those firefighters did an outstanding job of jumping on the fire quickly and containing the fire damage to the one shop. It could have been a lot worse."
Captain Lesley Morgan with the Fire Investigation Division said the cause of the fire appears to be accidental, most likely from an electrical malfunction. An estimate on the dollar loss was not available. No injuries were reported.