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Article published Sep 6, 2008 Pharmacy damaged
By Mark Boxley of The Daily Times Staff
Fire investigators are seeking the cause of a fire early Friday morning that damaged part of Village Pharmacy in Maryville.
The fire was reported at about 5:22 a.m. at Village Pharmacy, 2541 E. Broadway Ave., according to information from the Blount County Fire Department. The fire was in the older Village Pharmacy building, which was in one of three sections of the building, said Blount County Fire Chief Doug McClanahan.
Eighteen firefighters responded with seven tankers, due to the lack of fire hydrants in the area, and an engine and four support trucks. It was an aggressive attack on the fire in an attempt to get it out and to also protect the new Village Pharmacy building less than 50 feet away, McClanahan said. Village Pharmacy was set to move into the new building this weekend and the building that caught fire was scheduled to be torn down next week, he said. Authorities had not made a determination Friday where the fire may have started in the building.
The building was not a complete loss and firefighters were able to save some of the business' computers with patient information on them. The computers did get wet, so as of Friday it was not clear what information could be salvaged, McClanahan said.
Because the fire is under investigation, there is not enough information to determine the nature of the fire.
"At this point in time, we're calling it undetermined," McClanahan said.
Once the Blount County Sheriff's Office has finished its investigation, "the state pharmaceutical people will step in and start their process," he said, explaining that process will be to make sure all controlled substances in the building are secured, accounted for and disposed of properly.
At this point, it is unclear what, if any, pharmaceuticals in the building were damaged by the fire, McClanahan said.
"We know what's supposed to be in there, but until the investigation is over, we won't know what is in there," he said.
Along with the Blount County Fire Department and Blount County Sheriff's Office, the Blount County Emergency Management Agency responded to the incident.
The sheriff's office fire investigator was at the scene a good part of the day Friday and will be back today with an electrical engineer, according to Blount County Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer Marian O'Briant. No injuries were reported.