Students won’t be ordering late night meals at the Taco Bell on 1900 W. Market St. any time soon. The building caught fire around 5 p.m. Monday.”We are assuming the fire started with the heat and air unit on the roof. It probably threw some sparks out and caught the duct work on fire,” said Johnson City Operations Chief Roger Teinert, who was on duty at the time of the fire. There were no injuries.

“I think the [employees] were about the last people to know,” Teinert said. “They said they were working and all of a sudden the power went off and fire started falling from the ceiling.” Most restaurants, like Taco Bell, use heat detectors instead of smoke detectors. The heat detector did not register that there was a fire because the fire started in a small attic area.

“I made a statement when we pulled up that I couldn’t see the building because the smoke had completely engulfed it,” Teinert said. “I drove up over the hill and thought, ‘there’s no building here’.”

The fire was put out in a relatively short amount of time, Teinert said. Traffic on State of Franklin was blocked for an hour while firefighters worked to make sure the fire was completely out.

“We had people driving over the fire hose,” he said. “The hoses are five inches or better and the cars were running over them.”

Two sections of the hose have to be replaced because they were driven over.

“Make a note to students, don’t run over fire hoses!” Teinert said. A car could easily crush a fire hose that firefighters inside the structure are depending on.

The last resturaunt fire Teinert recalls was the McDonald’s that burned down on Roan Street several years ago.

Other fast food restaurants in the area should expect an increase in customers over the next few weeks. Teinert said that he heard the Taco Bell in Jonesborough was busy after the fire.

Some people will go to great lengths to eat a spicy chicken soft taco or grande quesadilla. Other people, like Trivia Riddle, will just find another way to take care of their late night cravings.

“I’ll probably go to Kroger instead and make my own food,” Riddle said. She hadn’t heard about the fire until Wednesday and was “disappointed.”

Fellow student Jessica Criswell said, “I heard the story from two different people who actually saw it in flames.” She further added, “I was a little bummed.”

Other late-night dining options include Krystal’s and Waffle House.

“I think they will get that one back in operation pretty quick,” Teinert said.

Author