Fire officials say 3 fires Wednesday are likely unrelated
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Rome firefighters were called to a blaze at a vacant home in Lindale late Wednesday night, the third structure fire of the day they responded to in southern Floyd County.
Around 9 p.m., firefighters were called to a vacant home at 3 West Point Drive in Lindale. When engines arrived, the house was completely engulfed in flames, and nearby homeowners were trying to hose down their own houses to keep the fire from spreading.
The house was destroyed, and the vinyl siding on some nearby homes received some heat damage.
Fire safety specialist Robert Owens said that with no power to the burned-out house and no lightning strikes due to weather, "It appears the fire could have been intentional."
He said he would investigate further to see if a cause could be determined.
Janet Lary, who lives two doors down, said the house had been vacant for a few months. Her father, 51-year-old John Henry Duncan, lived next door to the burning home and passed out as he was trying to spray down his own home to keep the flames from spreading.
He was conscious and able to speak with firefighters, and he was taken by ambulance to Floyd Medical Center for evaluation.
Earlier in the day, a metal storage building in Lindale and a vacant home in Silver Creek were destroyed in separate fires.
Owens said he doesn’t think the three blazes Wednesday are related.
According to Steve Wilson, battalion chief with the Rome Fire Department, a call came in around 4:30 p.m. that a barn behind a house in Lindale had caught fire. Upon arrival, firefighters found it was actually a metal storage building completely engulfed in flames at 205 Garden Ave.
Wilson estimated the building to be approximately 800 square feet. He said it seemed to be full of household items, but he did not know the exact contents of the building nor who the owner was.
The fire was hot enough to do some damage to the vinyl siding of two homes.
“When we arrived, we found we had an exposure problem (with the heat) on those two structures, so we put water on them, too,” Wilson said. “The heat did appear to warp some of the siding on those two homes.”
The flames were put out within 30 minutes, but firefighters and investigators remained on the scene to check for hot spots and try to determine what caused the fire.
Firefighters were also called to the scene of a vacant home on Chambers Mill Road in Silver Creek earlier in the day.
According to Wilson, neighbors noticed the fire at the modular home at the dead end on Chambers Mill Road, which still had electricity and gas service.
Emergency personnel blocked the area off to help firefighters get water to the blaze.
“There were some vagrants seen in the area about an hour before,” Wilson said.
A neighbor said police officers had been in the area recently investigating reports of vagrants, and the fire marshal’s office will conduct an investigation at to the origins of the fire.
Staff Writers Jeff Gable and John Bailey contributed to this report.
Around 9 p.m., firefighters were called to a vacant home at 3 West Point Drive in Lindale. When engines arrived, the house was completely engulfed in flames, and nearby homeowners were trying to hose down their own houses to keep the fire from spreading.
The house was destroyed, and the vinyl siding on some nearby homes received some heat damage.
Fire safety specialist Robert Owens said that with no power to the burned-out house and no lightning strikes due to weather, "It appears the fire could have been intentional."
He said he would investigate further to see if a cause could be determined.
Janet Lary, who lives two doors down, said the house had been vacant for a few months. Her father, 51-year-old John Henry Duncan, lived next door to the burning home and passed out as he was trying to spray down his own home to keep the flames from spreading.
He was conscious and able to speak with firefighters, and he was taken by ambulance to Floyd Medical Center for evaluation.
Earlier in the day, a metal storage building in Lindale and a vacant home in Silver Creek were destroyed in separate fires.
Owens said he doesn’t think the three blazes Wednesday are related.
According to Steve Wilson, battalion chief with the Rome Fire Department, a call came in around 4:30 p.m. that a barn behind a house in Lindale had caught fire. Upon arrival, firefighters found it was actually a metal storage building completely engulfed in flames at 205 Garden Ave.
Wilson estimated the building to be approximately 800 square feet. He said it seemed to be full of household items, but he did not know the exact contents of the building nor who the owner was.
The fire was hot enough to do some damage to the vinyl siding of two homes.
“When we arrived, we found we had an exposure problem (with the heat) on those two structures, so we put water on them, too,” Wilson said. “The heat did appear to warp some of the siding on those two homes.”
The flames were put out within 30 minutes, but firefighters and investigators remained on the scene to check for hot spots and try to determine what caused the fire.
Firefighters were also called to the scene of a vacant home on Chambers Mill Road in Silver Creek earlier in the day.
According to Wilson, neighbors noticed the fire at the modular home at the dead end on Chambers Mill Road, which still had electricity and gas service.
Emergency personnel blocked the area off to help firefighters get water to the blaze.
“There were some vagrants seen in the area about an hour before,” Wilson said.
A neighbor said police officers had been in the area recently investigating reports of vagrants, and the fire marshal’s office will conduct an investigation at to the origins of the fire.
Staff Writers Jeff Gable and John Bailey contributed to this report.
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comments (2)
« richardcranium wrote on Thursday, Aug 27 at 10:22 AM »
Whether these three fires are related or not, I can't say. I can say that for a fire official to make a declaration that they are (or even might be) related on the same day that they occured would be over-zealous and irresponsible. Remember, time takes time. All things are revealed in due time.
« tedb3rd wrote on Thursday, Aug 27 at 08:21 AM »
There's a satirical website that makes spoof news reports. This one would read, "Fire officials, arsonists at scenes, say 3 fires Wednesday are likely unrelated"