Square fire claims three buildings on The Murfreesboro Post

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Square fire claims three buildings

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By: MICHELLE WILLARD, Post Editor

Posted: Saturday, March 20, 2010 2:11 pm

Square fire claims three buildings | Fire

MFD firefighters battled a fire for more than two hours Saturday on West Main Street. TMP/P. Estes-Simpson

When Eric Fortney opened 3 Brothers Deli and Restaurant in November, he never thought this would happen.

On Saturday, Fortney stood and watched his dream go up in flames as three building a block off the Public Square burned.

“It’s a new business and I put my life and soul into this,” Fortney said.

The fire started shortly before 11 a.m. Saturday morning in apparently the Music City Medical Supply building on West Main Street. The fire quickly spread throughout the building and likely into the neighboring buildings, 3 Brothers Deli and a music store.

Click here to see a photo gallery of the fire.

Murfreesboro City Fire Marshall Ken Honeycutt said the cause of the fire is yet unknown and the Murfreesboro Fire Department must wait until the buildings can be inspected for safety by the city codes department before even entering.

Honeycutt said the medical supply building is a total loss. The roof collapsed in on the 100-year-old building and possibly damaged both 3 Brothers and the music store.

The fire department had 30 firefighters on hand with four engine companies and one elevated platform truck. The department battled the blaze for more than two hours Saturday afternoon before getting the fire under control.

At one point firefighters and Murfreesboro Police officers evacuated the area in fear oxygen tanks in the medical store may explode. No one was injured by the fire.

Honeycutt said old buildings, like these, were constructed with heavy timber, which makes them difficult to fight. He would like to see more sprinkler systems in the buildings to prevent large fires like this.

“To avoid this you’d have to go back and retrofit these buildings or you take chances like this,” he said.

Michelle Willard can be contacted at 615-869-0816 or mwillard@murfreesboropost.com.

Tagged under Fire

Member Opinions:

By: mddlerth on 3/20/10
Excellent photos...how sad for the business owners! Praying for all affected and the safety of the firefighters~

By: ItsGood on 3/20/10
Hint, don't buy a building on West Main. Remember the building at the corner of Front that the roof caved in, nothing built back yet and the City forced the hand of the owner to clean up the mess.

By: Citizen on 3/21/10
Congratulations to Murfreesboro's Fire and Police departments for averting what could have become a disaster.

By: Momma on 3/22/10
Prayers for all that are affected.