Friday night at approximately 9:30, the Leitchfield Fire Department, Leitchfield Police Department and Grayson County Sheriff’s Office responded to the offices of the News Gazette on the Leitchfield Town Square on the report of a fire.
The fire was first reported by East Grayson Fire Department member Chris Farmer, who lives in the area and was taking a friend home. He noticed flames coming from the back of the building and alerted Central Dispatch.
Upon LFD arriving at the scene, firefighters found flames coming from the rear of the building through a window and door, along with heavy smoke coming from both the rear and front of the building, including from the attic vents of an adjacent business, Simply Splendid.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the flames in the back of the building quickly, even as an electrical box near the back door offered several small blast bursts, or small explosions, over the course of several minutes.
As firefighters fought the fire in the back of the building, other LFD personnel entered the front of the structure through three doors (leading to the News Gazette, a stairwell and Simply Splendid) to ensure the fire had not spread beyond the newspaper’s section of the building.
Leitchfield Fire Chief Tim Duvall said the fire began in the rear of the building (a break room area) and the cause was “likely” electrical in nature.
The News Gazette section of the structure suffered severe fire damage in the rear, with major smoke damage throughout the rest of building. Simply Splendid suffered what appeared to be minor smoke damage.
LPD officers provided traffic control around the Town Square.
Firefighters worked the scene for about two-and-a-half hours before clearing at midnight, and there were no injuries reported.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com or 270-259-6000
