KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- The Knoxville Salvation Army suffered a devastating loss Sunday night when its thrift store at 409 North Broadway was gutted by fire.
When firefighters arrived on the scene about 7:30 p.m. the building was engulfed in flames.
"I was coming down the road and I smelled smoke," said bystander Chris Shelton. "I went around to the back of the building and I saw smoke coming out the back of the building. I didn't think anything of it. I thought maybe it was exhaust coming out of a vent or something. I went inside and asked guy if that's normal and he said, 'No it's not.' And the next thing I know the whole building is engulfed in flames and coming out the back of it."
The most of the items in retail store were flammable, including clothing and wood furniture. The building also served as central offices for the Salvation Army's thrift store operations and a warehouse.
"Back behind it, we had some Christmas toys stored that we're going have to replace," said Major Dewey Alderson, nearly choked in emotion. "We're just going to have to figure out what we're going to do -- make some decisions."
Alderson said the store, one of eight, was the lifeline of the Army's shelter programs, "This was our best one. This is the one that put the most into our shelter program. All the used clothing and all the furniture that we collect we evaluate and put into this one. We made about $25,000 a month that went back into the shelter programs."
"When you see something like this happening think of all the people it's going to hurt," Shelton sympathizes.
The fire also destroyed all computers and office equipment, including collection records.
The earliest estimate of damage was put at a half million dollars. No one was hurt in the fire and no cause was immediately known.
Fire crews were on the scene for several hours after the fire was extinguished. During that time, Broadway was closed from 5th Avenue to Depot Street.
