By Shannon McFarlin WENK/WTPR News Director
Cottage Grove, Tenn.—Fire fire departments battled a massive blaze involving a storage barn on Kuykendall Road outside of Cottage Grove last night and the barn and items stored in it are a total loss.
Cottage Grove Volunteer Fire Department Chief John Weiher told WENK/WTPR this morning that his department called for mutual aid from the Puryear, Paris and Hazel departments, as well as the U.S. Forestry Service, which brought their bulldozer to help contain the fire.
Weiher said the storage barn was “well involved” when the Cottage Grove Fire Department arrived and spread to surrounding fields. “The barn was full of equipment—combines, tractors, tires, smaller equipment and anytime you got that much fuel tanks and tires, you’ve got a problem. It was just a big fire.”
The blaze began around 6:30 p.m. and firefighters were on the scene for some four hours, he said. “It’s still smouldering this morning,” he said.
The property is owned by William Sawyers, he said.
The cause of the blaze has not been determined.
Photos by Blake Stewart.
