What We Learned: Downtown Blue Ridge Commercial Fire

On November 18, 2023, in the county seat of Blue Ridge, tourism was in full swing, with an estimated 50,000 to 75,000 individuals gathered in the area. At 1339 hours, the dispatch center received a report of a structure fire on a busy one-way strip downtown. The road runs through the heart of the city, where tourists travel, and the train depot is positioned for sightseeing trips through the county. These issues would cause many problems leading up to the fire incident downtown. The amount of congestion on the roadways in the area affects our response times, response routes, and ability to place apparatus and begin tactical operations quickly.