Fire authorities believe over one million gallons of water were used to help extinguish the fire on Old Stage Road, Saturday.
Nathan Hensley, Assistant Chief at Tusculum Volunteer Fire Department, told news outlets that more than a million gallons of water were pumped to battle the fire, which broke out around 1:00 AM Saturday at AmeriScrap foundry.
Water was being shuttled to the scene from multiple locations and placed in portable dump tanks, or holding pools, for continuous availability. Hensley acknowledged the Greeneville Water Commission made pumping that much water seamless. Hensley said the fire was completely out by around 4:00 PM Saturday.
No cause for the fire has yet been released. Incident commander Marty Shelton said the fire was in a pile of appliances and other items that had yet to be sorted. There were combustibles present in addition to the metals, which can burn at very high temperatures. The pile was also next to scrap cars which had yet to be fully stripped of all non-metal components.
Firefighters from the Tusculum, Newmansville, and Limestone Volunteer Fire Departments, the Greeneville Fire Department, along with Camp Creek, Mosheim, Caney Branch, Town of Mosheim, and Debusk Volunteer Fire Departments, worked the scene.
The St. James Volunteer Fire Department was called in on standby to set up at one of the Greeneville fire halls in case other calls were to come in from somewhere in the county.
The Debusk Rehab unit, EMS, Emergency Management Agency, Greeneville Energy Authority, and Greene County Sheriff’s Department were also on the scene.
