When fire ripped through the old Erwin town hall on Wednesday night the residents of the Unicoi County jail were forced to evacuate. Most of the inmates were shuttered to Washington and Carter County jails but the less security risk inmates spent the night in church.
Sheriff Kent Harris didn't hesitate to execute the jails evacuation plan when smoke inside the jail got too thick and he called on his pastor to help shelter some of the inmates.
22 of the the inmates were taken to the nearby Pentecostal Holiness Church where they watched a movie and camped out in the fellowship hall.
Harris says that they are prepared to keep the inmates at the church through tomorrow or until the jail is deemed safe to return.
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