Audio clip
Bruce Garner
An East Brainerd landmark may have fallen victim to a group of young arsonists Thursday evening, officials and witnesses said.
Chattanooga firefighters responded to a fire at the abandoned Narrowbridge restaurant about 6:30 p.m., said Bruce Garner, a fire department spokesman.
The fire appeared to have started on the second floor of the two-story antebellum-style home near the intersection of East Brainerd and Jenkins roads. It heavily damaged two rooms and moved into the walls, attic and roof, Mr. Garner said.
“When firefighters got here, they could see smoke and flames on the second floor,” Mr. Garner said, speaking at the scene. “They called in additional fire companies, eventually bringing in four additional fire companies, because of the size of the building.”
The restaurant closed in 1997, Chattanooga Times Free Press archives show. Since then, the city has renovated a nearby home and constructed Heritage Park on adjoining property. Now, the restaurant has graffiti and appeared to have fallen victim to vandalism.
Mr. Garner said the building was not occupied and there was no electricity connected to the structure, which led commanders to order an investigation into the blaze.
Two teen girls who were hanging out near the building said they saw at least five other girls dressed in all black and making references to “burning the place down.”
“They all had matches, and they were lighting them on the side of the house,” said Brittany Carden, 16. “They’d light a fire and then stomp it out with their feet.”
So Miss Carden and her friend left the building to sit by a creek behind the building.
“We came back, and it was on fire,” Miss Carden said. The five girls she suspects were nowhere to be seen.
The Narrowbridge was once one of the city’s finer dining establishments, former patrons said.
Mark and Renee Qualey had their wedding rehearsal dinner at the restaurant 20 years ago.
“It was nice. It was very upscale for the area,” Mr. Qualey said, “white tablecloths and everything.”
“We come here all the time. It was sad to see it dilapidated like it is,” Mrs. Qualey said.
“We had talked about how we wished someone would fix it up,” Mr. Qualey said.
Adam Crisp covers education issues for the Times Free Press. He joined the paper's staff in 2007 and initially covered crime, public safety, courts and general assignment topics. Prior to Chattanooga, Crisp was a crime reporter at the Savannah Morning News and has been a reporter and editor at community newspapers in southeast Georgia. In college, he led his student paper to a first-place general excellence award from the Georgia College Press Association. He earned ...
