Maryville police officers and firefighters are investigating a fire that ignited and spread up the rear of The Daily Times building on Monday. Two people were treated at the hospital because of injuries sustained during the fire.

Daily Times Publisher Max Crotser was taken by Rural/Metro Ambulance Service to Blount Memorial Hospital. Comptroller Danny Williamson rode with Crotser in the ambulance and was also treated at the hospital.

Maryville Fire Chief Ed Mitchell said 24 firefighters responded with four engines and a support truck to the fire reported at 3:19 p.m. Firefighters arrived about 2½ minutes later and had the fire under control within five minutes.

Mitchell, who was nearby when the call was dispatched, said he could see the smoke hovering around The Daily Times building.

"When I looked back, it looked like the structure was on fire with the heavy smoke showing," Mitchell said.

He said the fire started in a stack of wooden pallets on the loading dock behind the building and spread up the back of the building.

"Flames were actually rolling across the ceiling in (Crotser's) office," Mitchell said.
Firefighters were able to contain the fire, leaving most of the building free from damage.

"The quick response and the firefighters did an outstanding job containing it and keeping it from spreading throughout the building," Mitchell said.

Mitchell said emergency responders gave oxygen to Crotser and Williamson and took them to the hospital. Both Crotser and Williamson were treated in the emergency room and released.

A reporter was treated on the scene for possible heat-related injuries and a copy editor was treated on the scene for an injury that occurred as she was leaving the building during the fire.

As for the cause of the fire, Mitchell said they were "concerned that it was so much fire so quickly." Maryville police officers and detectives responded to the scene and began an investigation.

"Obviously the nature of the fire is worthy of us to investigate it," Maryville Police Chief Tony Crisp said.

Crisp said because the fire spread quickly and because of its location on the building, they must check into all possible causes of the fire including arson. Detectives and Ember, the police department's arson dog that sniffs out fire accelerants, searched the area for anything suspicious.

Crisp said detectives took a few items into evidence to be tested at a lab for fire accelerants.

Bob Norris, city editor for The Daily Times, said he was writing in the newsroom when he found out the building was on fire.

"I heard on the scanner something to the effect that pallets were on fire at The Daily Times," Norris said.

Norris said he ran out the side door of the building, but didn't expect to see much of a fire.

"The pallets were on fire like a bonfire," Norris said. "Flames against the building were reaching above the roof."

Sandy Phillips-Tuck, director of human resources, said she was talking to Williamson in her office when he noticed smoke. She said she went outside to check the smoke's origin.

"By the time I got around there, the fire had already spread up the back of the building," Phillips-Tuck said.

She said she told someone to call 9-1-1 and went back to her office to get her purse. Both Crotser's and Phillips-Tuck's offices are located directly above where the fire started. Phillips-Tuck said her "window was cracking" due to the heat and fire when she went back into her office.

While in the hospital, Crotser told The Daily Times that he was doing fine and expected to be out of the hospital Monday night. "The fire department, the police department, Rural/Metro and the hospital have just been magnificent," he said.

Crotser said he was directing the firefighters to where the fire was and to where rolls of blank newspaper were stored in the building after he got out. He said he got to where he was "not feeling so good." He said he sat down, emergency personnel gave him and Williamson oxygen and they were then taken to the hospital.

The printing press was not damaged during the fire, and business was expected to continue as usual at The Daily Times.