Tennessee historic courthouse caught fire, and officials had to quickly recover evidence that was inside.

In Loudon, Tennessee on Thursday officials had to recover evidence from inside the historic courthouse that caught on fire.

Mayor Rollen Bradshaw, District Attorney General Russell Johnson, Loudon County Sheriff Tim Guider and others entered the county courthouse to grab documents needed for court on Monday.

Officials said nobody was allowed in the building until a structural engineer deemed it safe, but the District Attorney General said there was no time to waste in recovering important evidence.

Johnson stated the evidence needed to be secured as soon as possible so ongoing cases wouldn't be endangered with the evidence, including murder weapons that were stashed in the first floor vault and which appeared to be intact.

After recovering the evidence it was cataloged, and moved to the old Loudon City Hall building, where some court services will be held next week.