KNOXVILLE Fire Department is responding to a structure fire at the Standard Knitting Mill Building.
The textile mill located in downtown Knoxville caught fire for the second time in one day on Sunday evening, authorities say.
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The structure fire caused heavy smoke and blazes, according to authorities.
KFD originally responded to a small fire at the Standard Knitting Mill Building around 10:50am on Sunday morning, and the fire was quickly put out.
A release from KFD shared that several people were seen running from the building as emergency crews arrived on the scene to the building at 1201 Abilene Place.
One runner was detained by Knoxville Fire Department’s Fire Investigation Unit and two others were detained by Knoxville Police.
After the fire was extinguished from what appeared to be a piece of furniture ablaze, no other signs of fire were found in the rest of the building.
Sunday evening, an even larger fire has broken out as reports were made of heavy smoke and flames coming from the building, according to a tweet posted by the city's fire department.
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Fire vehicles rushed across the city to the vacant scene on Washington Avenue just after 6pm.
Knoxville Fire Department Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks said that he believes that there is a strong likelihood of the fires being set intentionally, according to WVLT.
The fire department used large fire hoses on the outside of the building, according to officials.
“The volume of the fire is too great for anyone to be able to enter safely,” said Wilbanks. “We are using the master streams and ladder trucks.”
It is unclear if anyone was hurt in the fire.
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