Got a call from the Fire Chief this evening that Carmello’s was on fire. Headed up there and the fire was out by the time I got there. I talked to the Volunteer Chief onsite and he indicated that they hadn’t done much research yet but they thought it might be an oven fire. It appears they managed to contain the fire to the first floor. 2 fires in 5 or so days – thanks to our public safety folks – great job and nobody was injured.

Yesterday was a day that municipalities across the country prepare for all the while praying they never need all that hardware and man power. I talked to the Fire Chief today and he reported that the unified dispatch system that we recently implemented with the County worked like a charm. At the height of the fire we had people from Loudon county helping us. Also, it has been reported that the FD ran out of water at one point. That doesn’t look to be accurate. The radio message indicated that the water mains were at capacity (roughly 5,000 gpm), not out of water.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the displaced residents and my thanks go to our volunteer and career Firefighters and Medics. I’m also thankful for the staff from surrounding jurisdictions who came to our aid. That’s the way the system is supposed to work. A word of introduction about the pictures: some of the pics with the warped siding are houses across the street from the fire. The heat was incredible. There was heat damage to the tower truck but it is my understanding that the staff (volunteer or career – don’t know yet) has already fixed it.