Little Nashville Opry destroyed in fire

NASHVILLE, Ind. (WISH) - A landmark in Nashville is gone. A fire overnight destroyed the Little Nashville Opry. For more than 30 years country music fans flocked to Nashville, Indiana to hear stars perform.

Investigators have called for help from the State Fire Marshal to help search for a cause.

The calls poured in Saturday night at Brown County dispatch.

"The opry, the Little Nashville Opry, it's totally on fire," a caller told 911 dispatchers late Saturday night. "I live right down this road. I just yeah, it's engulfed, the whole place is going up right now."

Dorris and Emily Fleetwood live nearby. Emily ran inside, grabbed her camera and starting shooting video.

"Just flames shooting straight up into the air, I mean big flames light the parking lot all up," Dorris said.

Firefighters responded and additional departments were brought in. In all there were 13 agencies and nearly 60 firefighters battling the blaze.

"When the first crews arrived on the scene, the fire had already gone through the roof. It really was open at that point and the back probably third, two thirds of the building had pretty much burned," Mark Imhoff with the Brown County Volunteer Fire department explained.

Along State Road 46 in the area of the Opry there is only one hydrant. This forced firefighters to truck in water through out the night and into the morning.

Firefighters got the blaze under control in about an hour. By 1:35 Sunday morning it was out.

People who took in the show Saturday night, were amazed at the site, Sunday morning.

"We just couldn't believe it. We just stopped on the side of the road to see what happened, being here last night, so yeah unfortunate," said Pat Andrews of Illiinois.

Investigators say the building is a total loss.

An investigator from the State Fire Marshal's office said it could take days to determine what sparked the fire.

24-Hour News 8 tried to speak with the owners of the Little Opry, but they declined an interview.

The Little Nashville Opry held its first performance in April of 1975.  According to its website, it has hosted some of Indiana's top musicians and some of country music's popular performers.

George Jones and Loretta Lynn were just two of the big names scheduled this fall.

The building itself was first a saw-mill and then later turned into an indoor horse arena. Four Brown County couples transformed it into a concert venue in the early 1970's. It underwent a major renovation in 1979.