Dial: Preliminary Reports Say Fire Not Suspicious

Livingston Fire Chief Rocky Dial said investigators don’t believe last week’s fire that took Winningham’s Hardware store was suspicious.

“No, at this time, the bomb and arson agents have been here, they’ve done their thing, they’re waiting on some results, some stuff to come back, but right now they’re not thinking anything suspicious or anything like that,” Dial said.

It may take a few more weeks to get the final report, Dial said. The fire broke out Friday afternoon. Dial said it was large and fed by combustibles in the business, including gasoline/oil mixes for lawn equipment, paint, chemicals and ammunition. Dial said those products, particularly the ammunition, made it a difficult fire to fight.

“When that started we pulled our firefighters back what we hoped was a safe distance but after I started looking around we found spent bullets, spent casings, as far as 2-300 feet away from the building,” Dial said.

Fire departments answered the call from as far away as Cumberland County. Dial thanked all the other departments for their aid.