Oak Ridge firefighters battle a blaze allegedly started by arsonists on Saturday afternoon at the former Paragon Athletic Club on Emory Valley Road. (Photos by Tom Scott)
Arsonists started a Saturday afternoon fire at the former Paragon Athletic Club in Oak Ridge, Fire Chief Darryl Kerley said.
The fire started in a bathroom area in the rear of the building on Emory Valley Road about 5 p.m. Saturday, and it warped steel beams in the ceiling.
Firefighters near the front door of Paragon Athletic Club in Oak Ridge during a Saturday afternoon blaze.
Witnesses reported seeing “some kids hanging out there just before the fire,” Kerley said.
“It was an arson fire,” he said.
A fiberglass spa tub had caught on fire and filled the empty, unused building with thick, black smoke. Kerley said it took firefighters eight to 10 minutes to find the fire inside the Paragon and another five to 10 minutes to put it out.
