Morning fire hits Bloomingdale vehicle salvage yard, recycling center

KINGSPORT — A fire just outside Kingsport at a Bloomingdale vehicle salvage yard and recycling center drew mutual aid responses from multiple fire departments across the area early Wednesday morning. No people or buildings were damaged, and no cause has been released. The fire before sunrise was at the TAS Recycling Center and Pick A Part auto salvage, 2965 N. John B. Dennis Highway. No buildings were damaged or people injured, a spokeswoman for the main responding fire department said. The business is near the Kingsport Speedway, behind McCoy's Salvage Grocery. "At approximately 5:45 a.m., BVFD (Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department) was dispatched to TAS Recycling Center for multiple vehicles on fire. Upon arrival, units found nearly 30 cars fully involved in flames. Multiple other agencies in the area were dispatched to assist," according to a Facebook post from the Bloomingdale department. "We do not know (the cause)," said Carley Verbal, senior captain with the Bloomingdale department. "It will be investigated by the Sullivan County Sheriff's Office." Andrew McClung, public information officer for the sheriff's office, via email Wednesday afternoon confirmed an investigation but said the cause doesn't appear to be suspicious. "I can confirm our deputies are investigating a fire at TAS Recycling along the 2900 block of North John B. Dennis Highway. Deputies were called to the scene just before 6 a.m. this morning. At this time, there does not appear to be any indication of criminal activity," McClung said. The fire started in a metal scrap pile and spread to the vehicles, Verbal said. Although she said in her decade with the Bloomingdale department, she's never responded to a salvage yard/recycling center fire. However, she said statistically "it is a common thing in scrap yards." Assisting the Bloomingdale Volunteer Fire Department from the region included the Kingsport Fire Department, the Gate City Fire Department and Hiltons Volunteer Fire Department from across the state line in Virginia, as well as the Warriors Path, Sullivan Gardens and Fall Branch volunteer fire departments on the Tennessee side of the state line. She said it took about two hours to get the blaze controlled after arriving at the scene about four minutes after getting the call. She said the closest fire hydrant was too far away from which to run a hose, so most of the departments providing backup gathered water in tanker trucks and then brought it to a pumper to spray water on the fire. "Kingsport came out with their aerial truck, which really helped," Verbal said. Kingsport Fire Department Public Information Officer Barry Brickey said that fires in such situations can start with discarded batteries and be fueled by old oil and fuel sometimes present alongside scrap vehicles and metal.