Fire at old T-Mart under investigation in Sunrise Beach Village
Granite Shoals and Sunrise Beach Village firefighters cut away at the walls of the old T-Mart building to ensure the fire they just put out didn’t have any other footholds deeper inside. Courtesy photo
Firefighters from Sunrise Beach Village and Granite Shoals quickly extinguished a blaze Aug. 20 at the old T-Mart building. The structure at 103 Sunrise Drive in Sunrise Beach Village is currently under renovation and was empty. Investigators have not yet determined the cause of the fire.
Sunrise Beach Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dan Gower said the emergency call went out around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday. Firefighters were on the scene within three minutes; an engine from Granite Shoals Fire Rescue arrived in about 10 minutes.
“We’re not sure of how the fire started, but we know where it started,” Gower told DailyTrib.com.
The fire appeared to have been smoldering in a wall at the northwest corner of the building, Gower said. It was extinguished quickly, but firefighters spent about two hours cutting away the surrounding wall and ceiling to make sure the blaze wasn’t deeper inside.
Since the fire, the building’s power has been cut off, just in case the origin was electric. According to Gower, no electrical work on the building was recently done.
The former convenience store was cleared out, so the building suffered the brunt of the damage, which was limited to about 10 square-feet. Another few square-feet were cut away by firefighters.
Hamilton EMS provided an ambulance and incident command vehicle to support the firefighters during the incident. No injuries were reported.