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Huge Fire Breaks Out At Old U.S. Pipe Plant

  • Saturday, December 26, 2020
photo by CFD

Firefighters working a 24-hour shift on Christmas had a busy night battling a large commercial fire on the South Side of Chattanooga.

The call came out at 1:46 a.m. on Saturday after witnesses at a nearby gas station reported that they could see flames coming from the old U.S. Pipe & Foundry building at 2501 Chestnut St.

Quint 1 was first to arrive and confirmed that it was a heavily involved structure fire.

A defensive firefighting operation was launched to attack it from all sides.

Precautions were taken because of a large diesel tank and several propane tanks on the site. There were also large tree-trimming trucks, possible timber, and other equipment inside the building.

The fire was out by 5:15 a.m. and crews were doing overhaul that was expected to take 4+ hours on scene.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Ladder 1, Quint 1, Engine 12, Quint 17, Engine 5, Ladder 5, Squad 1, Battalion 1, Battalion 3, HCEMS, CPD and EPB responded.
 
There were no injuries reported. No one was believed to be inside the burning building. The scope of the operations on the scene was vast in an effort to stop the spread of the flames.
 
Mutual Aid was providing coverage from other neighboring departments at several of the city fire halls as crews continued to fight the fire.
 
The plant has been closed for many years and some of the buildings at the site had been partially demolished or deteriorated.
photo by CFD
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