Firefighters Continue Investigation Into Downtown Johnson City Fire

Firefighters continue to investigate the cause of a late night fire that destroyed a 25-unit apartment complex and three newly renovated homes in Downtown Johnson City. The fire started shortly after 11 p.m. Monday night at the intersection of West Market Street and West Watauga Avenue.

After several hours of investigation Tuesday morning, firefighters were still unsure what caused the fire. However, they pretty much ruled out electricity since the apartments and homes were all vacant and had no power hooked up to them.

Although crews say they did not receive any reports of injuries, they spent a good portion of their Tuesday digging through the rubble to make sure nobody was inside the buildings last night when they caught fire. Tuesday afternoon, firefighters even sent in two cadaver dogs to search for human remains. Assistant Fire Chief Mark Finucane said they didn’t expected to find any victims.

Last night, witnesses said they saw homeless people fleeing the scene, but investigators say they have not confirmed that to be true. Regardless, they still believe this fire is a bit unusual.

“I wouldn’t necessarily term it suspicious, it is unusual,“ Finucane said. “Generally, we don’t encounter that amount of fire in such a short time…all three floors of the apartment complex were on fire. We had about a two minute response time. Normally, it’s in one room, two rooms. With the whole building on fire, we’re certainly going to be looking at that.“

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