UPS making service adjustments after Athens facility fire

ATHENS, Tenn. (WDEF)- Many people awaiting packages across the northern portions of our viewing area may experience some significant delays.

This is because of a significant fire at the UPS facility in Athens, Tennessee.

Athens firefighters say both the UPS facility on Lawn Drive and nearly two dozen delivery trucks suffered significant damage from the Tuesday night fire.

They say the fire began shortly before midnight at their facility on Lawn Drive.

When firefighters arrived, the whole building was involved as two employees had escaped the blaze.

They were uninjured.

Lee Cook, an Athens resident and former volunteer firefighter, says he witnessed the fire and recorded this video of it.

Cook said, “Last night I was helping my girlfriend unload the car, and I seen smoke and a glow in the sky, and I told her I was going to see what was going on. So I pulled up, first responders were just arriving, it was fully involved. So I pulled over to this shopping mall here, and started to take the video that everybody has seen.”

Firefighters say dozens of trucks were severely damaged, some destroyed right behind me here in Athens. Some were so heavily affected by the fire that their frames are completely gone.

Cook said, “I was glad nobody was hurt, that was my first concern. My heart kinda dropped for all of the packages that people won’t be receiving. “

UPS says that relatively few packages were inside of the building at the time of the fire, but had to suspend service in the Athens area for the day.

They say they are putting into place a contingency plan to restore service, but mention there could be delays.

On their website, they list 16 zipcodes they expect to see these delays centered around Athens.

Virtually all of McMinn and Meigs Counties are affected along with portions of Monroe, Rhea, and Loudon Counties.

Towns such as Athens, Sweetwater, Madisonville, Decatur, Tellico Plains, Etowah, and Englewood are in the affected areas.

UPS asks those with packages damaged by the incident can go through a claims process for reimbursement.

They also say that recipients should work with the shipper of the package for a refund or replacement.