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Murfreesboro’s Largest Fireworks Store Up In Flames!

(above photo: Tuesday morning firefighters were still on the scene. The flat surface seen in this picture is the huge Fireworks Supermarket sign that spanned the entire length of the building. It is collapsed on top of the business. Also shown are three vehicles destroyed by the fire. Smoke was still coming from the debris Tuesday morning.)  The Murfreesboro Fire Department received the call around 5:15  Monday night (10/13/08) that a fire was spreading at the Fireworks Supermarket. When the first unit arrived at the scene, explosions had already begun inside the structure at 2030 South Church Street. Everyone was able to exit the building without injuries. Several vehicles parked near the inferno caught on fire and were a loss. Huge clouds of black smoke could be seen in most parts of the county. A WGNS News Crew happened to be in the area and was on-the-scene before firefighters arrived. (photo left: As you can see from this news photo made Tuesday morning, the flames were only about 200-feet from a gas station. You can see the smoke still coming from the Fireworks Supermarket).

Shortly after 5:00 o’clock (10/13/08) Scott Walker was in the WGNS New Cruiser, traveling toward the Murfreesboro square on South Church Street and about to cross the bridge over I-24.  He said, “Suddenly there was a huge fireball. Almost instantly you could see fireworks shooting up into the air and going across Church Street.”  He was on-the-air from the scene before the first fire truck arrived. The Murfreesboro Police Dept. closed the roadway for almost three-hours. The Murfreesboro Fire Department had the blaze under control within about an hour, but the hot spots kept igniting fireworks and rockets inside the landmark business. Listeners stuck in the One grid-lock traffic phoned WGNS and were put on the air “live” to describe what they saw. One said, “It was like the 4th of July with lots of exploding color, but this time it wasn’t always up in the air–some of the rockets went horizontally.” Around 8:00 o’clock Monday night, police re-opened South Church Street to traffic. Firefighters will remain on the scene to watch for re-ignites and hot-spots.

It was eerie how the giant flag (left of photo) in front of the Fireworks Supermarket continued to furl from the wind caused by the blaze. The heat from the flames could be felt by passing motorists until the five-lane thoroughfare was closed in peak afternoon drive-time traffic. There was concern that exploding rockets would ignite the gas station (see tall Exxon sign on the right of this picture) that shared a neighboring parking lot and was less than 200-feet away from the inferno.

As Tuesday’s first light arrives, so will fire inspectors. They will sift through the remains of the structure for clues that will help to determine what caused the fire. At this time, that answer is not known. In live broadcasts from the fire, Scott Walker said about 50 people near the burning business RAN when the fireworks started rocketing away from the structure. WGNS listeners gave live reports from the fire as they drove along the interstate or were in the grid-lock traffic of South Church Street.

As you can see, South Church Street became a parking lot. Motorists turned off their engines, talked with each other and discussed the local history that was going up in smoke. The business with the huge Fireworks Supermarket sign and super bright lights held fond memories for many of the people milling around their cars and sharing memories of past Independence Day celebrations when they purchased merchandise from the long time business. It is not known whether or not owners will rebuild at this location. However, one thing is for certain… The business in its past state would not conform with the current sign ordinance, it was grandfathered-in. Since it was more than seventy-five per cent destroyed, it is believed that the business would have to get a waiver to rebuild an identical structure. More than likely, this will be a memory! Ironically, the billboard to the RIGHT of the structure that reads, “FIREWORKS SUPERMARKET” still stands.

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