This morning on my run I saw flames over 40 feet in the air.
Cleveland firefighters battle American Knitting mill blaze on Sunday morning.
Cleveland firefighters stand by to protect homes from nearby American Knitting mill blaze on Sunday
The old mill in Cleveland, at 6th and Euclid streets, still smolders as Cleveland Fire Department continues to apply water Monday afternoon.Cleveland firefighters continued to cool the smoldering ruins of the American Knitting mill Monday, a day after they battled a blaze amid high winds at the vacant downtown facility.
"It really taxed us," Cleveland Fire Department Chief Ron Harrison said in a phone interview Monday, citing the work of department personnel to keep the fire from spreading to nearby homes and the refurbished Old Woolen Mill, home to a number of small offices, arts studios and other businesses.
In all, 34 firefighters responded to the Sunday blaze, deploying in five engines, two ladder trucks and a heavy rescue vehicle, Harrison said. The Tri-Community Volunteer Fire Department, based in Collegedale, sent a ladder truck to assist, and Bradley County Fire and Rescue went on call to handle any routine city fires on behalf of the Cleveland Fire Department during the event.
The fire department received an alarm at 4:47 a.m. Sunday morning and arrived a minute later, Harrison said. However, the fire was "heavily, if not fully, involved" when firefighters arrived, he said. They immediately evacuated a dozen nearby residences as a precaution.
Northerly 10 mph winds further complicated the situation, but firefighters quickly contained a small fire that had spread to the roof of the Old Woolen Mill, Harrison said. One home sustained two cracked windows caused by the intense heat.
Cleveland Councilman Bill Estes offered an eyewitness account on his Facebook page.
"This morning on my run I saw flames over 40 feet in the air," Estes said in a post he logged Sunday. "One mile later when I got to American Knitting I saw Cleveland's Fire Department containing as best they could while putting other surrounding fires out. It was quite windy this morning and their efforts on the north side of this fire were so impressive."
Two hours later, they had extinguished the blaze, Harrison said. Officials expect it will take a few days to fully extinguish embers in the collapsed portion of the structure.
Harrison compared the scale of the event to the fire involving the vacant Cleveland Chair Co. building five years ago.
The investigation of the American Knitting blaze may take several days or weeks, Harrison said. He would not speculate about the cause of the fire.
Contact staff writer Paul Leach at 423-757-6481 or pleach@timesfreepress.com. Follow on Twitter @pleach_tfp.