A family auto repair business went up in flames on Saturday night in the Dallas Bay area.
At 6:30 p.m., a 911 call came in by the home/business owner, Steve Brown, of a reported fire in his garage and attic area located at 1139 Lena Lane. Dallas Bay Volunteer Fire Department responded and arrived on the scene reporting fire pouring out of the garage, attic area and the back part of the structure.
Chief Marcus Fritts, Dallas Bay Volunteer Fire Department, reported, "We could not make an initial interior attack on the garage and attic because there were several propane tanks exploding in the structure. We had to let those tanks burn off before we could start extinguishing the fire."
Chief Fritts requested a mutual aid response for additional tankers and personnel to assist Dallas Bay. Soddy Daisy Fire Department, Red Bank Fire Department and Sequoyah Volunteer Fire Department responded to the scene.
Mr. Brown explained he started warming the garage with a wood furnace before he started working on a customer's car (1997 Grand Prix). He went back into his apartment next door for 10 minutes when he heard a popping noise coming from the garage. He went to investigate and found smoke in the garage and and fire crawling into the attic area. He knew the fire was too far gone for him to try to extinguish it.
Mr. Brown said he has lived here his whole life and worked out of this garage for years repairing cars.
The cause of the fire is undetermined and will be under investigation by the Hamilton County Sheriff's Office.
The auto repair business is a total loss and damages are undetermined at this time. Mr. Brown did not have insurance. He also lost a 1974 two-door Impala that was adjacent to the garage.