On Wednesday afternoon, North Knoxville became the stage for an emergency as flames erupted at the Tamko Building Products facility, a revelation made stark by the unforgiving light of the following sunrise. Local outlets like 6ABC WATE captured images depicting the aftermath of the fire that blazed through a cardboard storage area at 2506 Johnston Street, the cause of which remains under investigation according to Thursday morning updates.

The Knoxville Fire Department (KFD) responded to the incident around 3:07 p.m. on Wednesday, with smoke and fire visible from the nearby interstate; despite the potential hazard, the main building remained unscathed, and nearby Norfolk tracks continued to operate, the flames were contained to the cardboard pad, a congested mass likely to smoldering for hours due to its dense packing.

Traffic interruptions followed suit, with road closures at New York Avenue at Louisiana Avenue and Johnston Street at Louisiana Avenue, the latter expected to persist until the area was deemed clear by firefighting crews. NewsTalk 987 reported heavy equipment was brought to the scene by city crews to assist KFD, working into the night relocating cardboard to facilitate extinguishing efforts.

To manage the prolonged engagement with the blaze and high temperatures, KFD rotated out on-duty personnel with off-duty firefighters, in a bid to ensure the city's continued protection against fires, according to the firefighters' department, additional crews and apparatus were on hand, battling the blaze which was expected to remain a threat for several consecutive hours due to the material involved.