A weekend fire in Cleveland, Tennessee, destroyed a popular flea market and fireworks stand that stood off U.S. Highway 64 for more than four decades.
The blaze that reduced the iconic Howard's Fireworks and flea market to rubble on Saturday and claimed about $100,000 worth of fireworks was an electrical fire, Bradley County fire officials said Monday. The structure was a total loss.
Bradley County fire investigators made the determination through eyewitness accounts and evidence from the scene, Bradley County Emergency Management Agency spokesman Adam Lewis said Monday in a news release.
"It has been determined that the cause of the fire was electrical due to overloading and excessive use of extension cords," Lewis said. "The scene has been released back to the property owner with no other investigations pending."
Owner Howard Thompson, also a Bradley County commissioner, said Monday in a phone interview he hasn't decided whether to build the business back.
It's been a 43-year run, and Thompson is still reeling, he said. The business has operated on Highway 64 - also known in Cleveland as Waterlevel Highway - since around 1979 or 1980, Thompson said.
"I lost a place with a lot of memories more than anything," he said. "Other things can be replaced, and we didn't lose any lives, and everybody got out safe, and that's what's important. We're just looking at things, trying to calculate to see what we're going to do."
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Cleveland flea market owner mulls future after weekend fire destroys iconic local business
Thompson said he was at the business Saturday around noon when the fire broke out.
"I was outside here, and we were getting ready for the fireworks season, and we had a lot of fireworks in," he said.
Several of Saturday's 25 or so vendors were on-site when the fire started and quickly raged through the aging structure, he said. Fireworks could be heard popping in a constant barrage as smoke and flames filled the sky.
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The fireworks were intended for this year's Fourth of July celebration at the business, Thompson said. The pandemic hit fireworks suppliers hard the past two years, and Thompson had to cancel his Independence Day event in 2020 and 2021 - 2020 would have marked the event's 30th anniversary.
"We had a shortage last year of fireworks and year before last, too. This year, it's come back up, and there's an abundance of fireworks this year, and that's what we'd planned on - a big year to make up some for the other years," he said.
But now Thompson is mulling what to do about the holiday and his business. He said he had liability insurance on the building, but that was the only coverage.
"We'll get our marbles together here, and we'll make up our mind," he said.
The business enjoyed good luck for years, he said.
"We've held up for 43 years and hadn't had no fires, and I went through a couple of tornadoes and didn't have no damage but maybe a piece of tin blow off or something like that," he said. "We've been blessed."
Lewis said the first call on the fire came in a little after noon Saturday, and the first fire units were on scene in about 10 minutes.
"Quickly, it was apparent we'd need mutual aid," Lewis said Monday in a phone interview.
Fire companies from Cleveland, West Polk County, Englewood, Chattanooga and elsewhere assisted, he said.
"It was about a 45-minute battle before we got the fire under control," he said.
Fireworks, some propane tanks and firearm ammunition stored at the site added complications for firefighters, but no one was injured, he said.
While that part of Bradley County isn't considered remote, there aren't many fire hydrants, Lewis said. Fire companies had to supply water to firefighters at the scene through a daisy-chain of water tanker engines, he said.
Saturday's warm weather and the heat from the fire took a toll on firefighters.
"Of the firefighters who responded, 10 had to be treated for heat exhaustion," Lewis said. "They were treated on the scene."
Lewis said the fire burned across Thompson's property from west to east through several buildings that were connected or very near each other. The area where the fireworks were stored was not where the fire appeared to have started, he said.
Contact Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569. Follow him on Twitter @BenBenton.