Fire Destroys Old Wilson Building In Cookeville

A Tuesday morning fire destroyed the old Wilson Sporting Goods building in Cookeville.

City Fire Department Chief Daryl Blair said crews responded to the Depot Street address at 1:12 a.m.

“The first unit was on scene at 1:16 a.m. It was a response time of 4 minutes and 48 seconds,” Blair said. “We arrived on scene and had heavy smoke conditions throughout the building. As other crews came in on different streets, the fire started getting visible. We started setting up a line of defense, and the part we have lost at this time is the front side of the building facing depot, but the guys did an awesome job of cutting it off and keeping it from getting on in to other parts of the building.”

Firemen from Putnam County, Livingston, Monterey and Crossville also responded to the scene to provide aerial services. Blair said no injuries occurred while crews worked to contain the blaze.

“The front part of the building is collapsed in, so were not letting anybody go in,” Blair said. “We’re just doing what we can from the exterior.

Blair said a cause of the large fire remains unknown at this time.

“It will be turned over to be investigated, as normal fires of this size and nature are,” Blair said. “It’s been several years since we’ve had one like this, but anytime you have a loss it’s bad. We’re just thankful we don’t have them like this on a normal basis.”

Blair encouraged drivers to avoid the area of Cedar, Broad, and Depot Street. He said the roadways will remain closed for most of the day.