La Vergne residents experienced a disturbance on Monday evening when a fire erupted at the Tobacco Brew & Chew store. According to WSMV, the blaze prompted the temporary closure of a section of Murfreesboro Road as emergency crews rushed to the scene. The fire, reported just after 9 p.m., created dense smoke visible from the storefront. Firefighters from the La Vergne Fire Department quickly managed the situation by having the fire under control within approximately 10 minutes of their arrival.
As the smoke billowed, one individual escaped the Tobacco Brew & Chew; meanwhile, several customers from a neighboring Little Caesars also evacuated the area. Battalion Chief Cody Wilson, in a statement obtained by WSMV, detailed that entry was made into an adjacent Boost Mobile store as part of the firefighting efforts; fortunately, the store was vacant. “There is heavy smoke damage to the tobacco store, but the full extent of the damage won’t be known until investigations are complete,” Wilson said.
Providing further details on the response, WKRN reported a sizable deployment to the incident, including 16 fire department personnel, several command staff members, four suppression units, and a truck. They were aided by units from the Smyrna Fire Department and Rutherford County Emergency Medical Services. The severity of the smoke damage to the tobacco shop has yet to be confirmed as investigative efforts are underway by La Vergne Fire Marshal Curtis Brinkley and a Rutherford County Fire Department investigator.
Additional information was provided by FOX17, confirming that the fire had indeed been successfully extinguished and detailing the evacuation, "Firefighters say that one person safely escaped from the Tobacco Brew & Chew and several other people evacuated an attached Little Caesar's before firefighters arrived on scene." With a Rutherford County Fire Department investigator now part of the team looking into the fire's origins, the community awaits further revelations on the cause and to witness the petty victories over the damage dealt by an otherwise ordinary Monday that was left scorched.
