Staff photo by Doug Strickland
Firefighters rush to the scene of a fire as workers clear the area Thursday, June 18, 2015, behind the Highland Plaza shopping center on Hixson Pike in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Chattanooga Fire Department reported that the blaze began as the result of a gas leak as workers were repaving the area behind the shopping center, but there were no injuries.Chattanooga firefighters had to work quickly to contain a gas-fed fire that broke out behind the Highland Plaza shopping center off Hixson Pike on Thursday morning, fire department officials said.
The fire, which sent forth black plumes of smoke visible for several miles, started when construction workers at a building site behind the shopping center hit a gas main, Chattanooga Fire Department Chief Danny Hague said.
The fire ignited once the gas met a piece of paving equipment, and it was fueled by the 100 gallons of diesel fuel in the machinery.
One construction worker suffered superficial burns but will not need hospital treatment, Hague said.
The incident came a day after three firefighters were hospitalized and treated for chemical exposure at a fire at NA Industries off Amnicola Highway. They since have been released.