Franklin, TN –The Franklin Fire Department is investigating the cause of a commercial building fire that occurred Monday evening. The fire, which was kept in check by automatic fire sprinklers, broke out in a Columbia Avenue building that houses a church, retailer, contractor showroom, and warehouse storage.
Franklin Fire Marshal Andy King said the fire started in the warehouse storage area of Comfort Supply, an HVAC wholesaler. Comfort Supply is one of three tenants located in the 250,000 square foot building that is owned, and also occupied by Lasko Metal Products, at 1725 Columbia Avenue. Lasko utilizes approximately 150,000-square feet of the space for warehouse storage. They lease the remainder of the space.
King said the fire caused two fire sprinkler heads to activate, and the flow of water triggered an automatic fire alarm. The Franklin Fire Department was dispatched by the fire alarm monitoring company at 5:38 PM. Upon arrival firefighters found smoke showing on the exterior of the building and upgraded the call to a working structure fire.
Although the fire was controlled by the fire sprinkler system, firefighters still encountered active fire, heavy smoke, high heat, and low visibility. Due to the size of the building, they were on-scene for several hours completing extinguishment, safety assessments, and clean-up.
King said there were no occupants in the building at the time of the fire and no injuries. He estimated damage to the building at $100,000.
According to King, Comfort Supply will be closed briefly for repairs, but the other tenants in the building, including Fellowship Bible Church and Habitat for Humanity Re-store, will remain open.
