Arson Inquiry Launched After Fire Guts Embattled Abortion Clinic In Tennessee

The hope of a brand new start for a Planned Parenthood clinic in Tennessee has been shattered by a devastating New Year's Eve fire that resulted in a "total loss," sparking an arson inquiry, fire officials said.

The fire broke out early on Dec. 31 in Knoxville, Tennessee, with the cause of the blaze yet to be determined, according to a statement released by the city's fire department. Officials confirmed no injuries were logged since the clinic had been closed since Dec. 7, 2021, for renovations.

"On arrival, companies found a large single-story commercial building fully involved with fire through the roof," the statement reads per the Business Insider. "Crews initially attacked the fire defensively from the exterior."

The department is now investigating possible causes of the blaze at 710 N. Cherry Street, including arson. Authorities say they will release further information when it comes to hand.

"Right now, we don't have a cause. And we don't have a lot of information pointing in the direction of arson," Assistant Chief Mark Wilbanks told the Daily Beast.

According to responding fire officials, they had to use a lot of water to put out the fire and get the situation under control. They noted the damage from the inferno was so extensive, making it harder to determine a cause.

"We used our ladder trucks to use a lot of water to put the fire out, which unfortunately makes it harder to dig into the evidence," he said. "Ideally, you'd go in there with backhoes and dig it out, but we're going to have to use hand shovels."

If investigators unraveled that the fire that gutted the embattled abortion clinic was caused by arson, it will be the second time the Knoxville Planned Parenthood clinic has come under attack in 2021. In January last year, a gunman opened fire and shot several rounds of a shotgun into the glass of the exterior of the currently abandoned building.

News of the blaze came as abortion-rights groups aggressively foil against a spate of restrictive reproductive rights laws amid fears the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade.

The court case limits how early in a pregnancy a state government may intervene to protect the life of an unborn child, the Daily Inter Lake noted.