( CNN ) -- A sex tape allegedly showing former Sen. John Edwards survived a fire that torched a North Carolina courthouse on Thursday . Actually , the tape that was the subject of a February court hearing at the historic Chatham County Courthouse was not at the courthouse during the blaze , city officials said . The tape , said to show Edwards and his former mistress Rielle Hunter , had been moved to another facility , said Debora Henzey , community relations director for Chatham County . Seven fire departments responded to the blaze at the courthouse in downtown Pittsboro about 4:45 p.m. Thursday . It took firefighters hours to quell the blaze , which severely damaged the courthouse . In February , the courthouse was the scene of the legal battle over the sex tape , with Hunter suing for its return . At the hearing , Judge Abraham Penn Jones found former Edwards aide Andrew Young and his wife , Cheri , in civil contempt of court and ordered them to hand over the tape to the court . In court documents , the Youngs had said that the video showed `` Senator Edwards engaged in sexual activities with a woman who , from all indications , is not his wife and who the Youngs believe to be Ms. Hunter , based upon her appearance . '' In January , Edwards admitted that he had fathered a child with Hunter , a videographer who worked on his 2008 presidential campaign . Edwards had publicly denied paternity for more than a year . About a week after his admission , he confirmed reports that he had legally separated from his wife , Elizabeth . Those announcements came just before Andrew Young released an embarrassing book about the Edwardses and his campaign . CNN 's Jessica Jordan contributed to this report .
Edwards was the subject of a February hearing at the Chatham County Courthouse . Chatham County Courthouse in North Carolina burned on Sunday . The tape , which allegedly showed Jonathan Edwards and Rielle Hunter , had been moved .