In to the flames
Local firefighters responded to two fires and a gas leak in less than 24 hours.
KCaulder@CalhounTimes.com
Two Sunday night fires and a Monday morning gas leak kept local first responders busy as the weekend came to an end.
A house fire that broke out late Sunday evening caused $180,000 in damage to property and content at 320 Beamer Circle S.W. There were no injuries.
According to the report from the Gordon County Fire Department, the department received a call late Sunday evening at around 7:56 p.m. alerting them to a possible structure fire out on Beamer Circle. Fire service personnel were dispatched at 7:57 p.m. and arrived on the scene at 8:07 p.m.
Division Chief Nathan Saylors was first to arrive and advised other fire personnel that both smoke and heavy fire were visible and seemed to be moving quickly from one side of the home to the other.
Fourteen fire service personnel arrived on scene to work the call, along with three engines and two tankers.
During initial attempts to put out the fire, the report states that the situation “rapidly deteriorated,” causing crews to take a more defensive approach. A water shuttle operation was established to get water to the scene due to the distance from the nearest hydrant.
Once the flames were under control, crews switched back to the offensive and made entry into the home to perform salvage and overhaul operations and to ensure the fire was completely extinguished.
The cause of the fire was
FLAMES,
undetermined after an investigation, according to the report.
The homeowner stated in an interview with Saylors that he was the only resident living in the home and that no one else was in the house at the time of the fire. He also told Saylors that he cooked dinner, ate, and laid down to go to sleep prior to the fire.
He could not recall when he went to sleep or what time he ate dinner, but said he was awoken by his dog jumping on him and barking. It was then that he realized the house was filled with smoke. The homeowner escaped with his dog and spoke with his neighbor, who told him she had contacted first responders.
Saylors said in the report that the homeowner stated he did not require Red Cross Assistance, but the department contacted Red Cross to notify them of the situation.
Industrial fire
Across town, an industrial fire that started late Sunday night resulted in heavy damage at the Clean Sweep business located at 127 Nance Road.
Calhoun Fire Department Deputy Chief Terry Mills and Gordon County Fire Chief Doug Ralston, who assisted with the fire, both said the cause of the fire is still unknown and under investigation.
Mills said a 911 dispatch call came in at around 9:30 p.m. and that fire and police were on the scene within minutes. The fire department immediately went to work extinguishing the flames, which had already spread across much of the building.
“It was a fully-involved fire when we arrived. It took us about six hours to contain it,” Mill said in a phone interview on Monday morning. “We are still here now, putting out hot spots.”
The fire resulted in no injuries, but Mills said that the damage to the building itself was extensive. No other structures were harmed.
“It’s a metal building, so it’s not completely gone, but it was a major fire involving about 90 percent of the structure,” Mills said.
First responders were also on the scene of a gas leak Monday before noon that caused the evacuation of the Spring Valley Apartment buildings, located at 101 Spring Valley Drive, Mills said.
The gas line had been shut off and first responders were cleaning up their gear by 12:45 p.m.
The leak was caused by contractors who hit a gas line, Mills said. When asked, he said he did not know the name of the contractors as he was still working an industrial fire that broke out on Nance Road late Sunday evening.
Kendal Castillo, a resident who lives on Spring Valley Drive near the complex, said he saw a construction crew digging a hole in the area. He thought nothing of it until he began to smell gas from his home.
“I live across from the apartments and walked over to see what was happening,” Castillo said. “It smelled a lot. I was in my house and could smell the gas. It smells like it was a big leak, but I don’t know. They evacuated the building where the gas leak was.”