Covington and Newton County continue to gain traction as a premiere filming spot, with local tourism officials going so far as to give us the title "Hollywood of the South."

Nothing keeps a town on the radar like a successful, long-running TV series, and we have "The Vampire Diaries" to thank for our latest round of attention.

There was a major scare Thursday when the building on the square that hosts the façade of the fictional Mystic Grill restaurant accidentally caught fire when a tall delivery truck snagged some electrical wires behind the building, taking down a poll and pulling wires inside the building resulting in a spark in the front of the building and a devastating fire.

We could have had a real tragedy if the fire had gotten out of control and spread to surrounding historic buildings.

According to attorney Jimmy Alexander, whose office was in the building, a couple of his good friends having morning coffee at Square Perk heard the loud noise behind the building and went over to investigate, finding the downed poll. They and any others who alerted the fire department deserve a big thanks from all of us.

After that, the firefighters on the scene were magnificent, taking all steps necessary to save the building, which just barely survived.

While we're sorry the people who work at the law firm of Alexander, Royston and Carter Accounting won't be able to go back into their building for six months to a year, even they had some good luck, as they barely lost any work files in the fire.

We're grateful our square is still intact and our vampires can carry on with their nightly duties. Again, we thank our public safety employees for taking their jobs seriously every day they come to work in Newton County.