A fire tore through Center Hill Sports Marine on Sparta Highway in DeKalb County Friday evening, gutting the main building and a rear shop while firefighters remained at the scene for nearly six hours to keep it from spreading to a nearby building containing new vessel inventory, including several new pontoon boats.
The DeKalb County Fire Department was dispatched to the commercial structure fire at 6:04 p.m., according to wjle.com. DeKalb 911 had already fielded multiple calls from passing motorists reporting heavy smoke and flames rising from the roof of the business before crews arrived.
When firefighters reached the scene, they found heavy fire throughout the building, the outlet reported. The flames threatened another nearby building containing new vessel inventory, including several new pontoon boats, but crews managed to contain the blaze and protect those exposures from damage.
Nearly Six Hours on Scene
Firefighters remained at Center Hill Sports Marine for close to six hours, working through firefighting, salvage and overhaul operations, per the same report. By the time crews cleared the scene, the main building and the shop located in its rear, along with all of their contents, were counted as complete losses. A pickup truck parked outside at the rear of the business was also destroyed.
Center Hill Sports Marine was closed at the time the fire broke out, and no injuries were reported. The final determination of the fire's origin remains pending, though a preliminary finding points to the pickup truck parked outside at the rear of the building as the point where the fire started, the outlet noted.
Center Hill Sports Marine is located on Sparta Highway in DeKalb County.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency says Center Hill Reservoir covers 18,220 surface acres across DeKalb, Putnam, Warren and White counties.
Mutual Aid From Across Two Counties
The response drew heavily on DeKalb County's own firefighting resources, with personnel from the Johnson's Chapel, Midway, Four Seasons, Cookeville Highway and Main stations joining county-wide crews at the scene. White County's Cassville and Central View fire departments also sent mutual aid to help battle the flames.
Beyond the fire crews, the scene drew support from the DeKalb County Sheriff's Department, DeKalb County Emergency Medical Services and the DeKalb County Emergency Management Agency. Caney Fork Electric Cooperative and Middle Tennessee Natural Gas also assisted, rounding out a multi-agency effort to contain the damage and keep the surrounding area safe during the nearly six-hour operation.
The fire left the dealership’s main building and rear shop as complete losses, along with their contents.
