Mother Nature, homeowners and possibly arsonists were to blame for igniting six fires between Friday and Sunday that taxed the resources of Barrow County Fire & Emergency Services.
No one was injured in the fires, but two people were displaced from one of the homes, and a total of four houses, one business and an outbuilding were damaged over a 48-hour period from Friday to Sunday.
The last two fires Sunday afternoon were caused by lightning strikes during a storm that led to a total of 51 emergency calls to Barrow County E-911 in two and a half hours. The calls were to report four fires, four wrecks, medical emergencies, and downed trees and power lines, according to a Barrow County Fire & Emergency Services press release.
“It is times like this that all departments in Barrow County show how great they work together and protect every citizen in Barrow County,” said Lt. Scott Dakin, public information officer for Barrow Fire and Emergency Services. “We want to thank Winder Fire Department for running several calls in Barrow County to get the citizens the help they needed as quickly as possible.”
Six weekend fires reported in Barrow County
This is a timeline of the fires:
•4:06 p.m. Friday: Fire broke out in the hallway of a home in the 1100 block of Victron Drive and spread to the attic. The cause was an undetermined human act.
•9:40 p.m. Friday: A vacant, single-story brick house in the 800 block of Loganville Highway was totally destroyed in a suspicious fire whose cause is under investigation both by the county’s Fire Investigation Team and the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office.
•5:48 a.m. Saturday: A kitchen grease fire at 1241 Dylan Way in Bethlehem was extinguished by residents before the arrival of fire crews, but the stove, microwave, cabinets and kitchen carpet were damaged.
•12:04 p.m. Sunday: The county Fire Investigation Team and the sheriff’s office are investigating the cause of an explosion and fire in an outbuilding in the woods behind 1152 Thomas Drive. Firefighters had to extend fire hose through the woods to extinguish the flames, but the structure was destroyed.
•2:06 p.m. Sunday: Lightning sparked a fire and caused additional damage to a commercial structure at 301 Cedar Creek Road. The lightning ignited material in a crawl space under the building.
•2:14 p.m. Sunday: Two residents were displaced by a fire sparked by a lightning strike at 1320 Center Drive. The fire began in the basement and spread to the kitchen and attic. The lightning also caused other damage to the house.
Between two of the Sunday fires in the county, emergency personnel from the Winder Police Department responded to an emergency call outside the city limits on Stonegate Drive.
"We responded with Barrow County at 1:32 to Stonegate Drive on a rescue call for a child not breathing," said Winder Fire Chief Ray Mattison. "This was at a time when they were having runs all out in the county."
The city also provided backup for a county wreck on Hwy. 211 at Booth Circle, but the backup request was canceled while the city crew was still en route, Mattison said.
Meanwhile, the only fire alarm in the city was a false one at Winder-Barrow Middle School.
"We were very fortunate in the city," Mattison said. "Everything was moving around us."
•4:06 p.m. Friday: Fire broke out in the hallway of a home in the 1100 block of Victron Drive and spread to the attic. The cause was an undetermined human act.
•9:40 p.m. Friday: A vacant, single-story brick house in the 800 block of Loganville Highway was totally destroyed in a suspicious fire whose cause is under investigation both by the county’s Fire Investigation Team and the Barrow County Sheriff’s Office.
•5:48 a.m. Saturday: A kitchen grease fire at 1241 Dylan Way in Bethlehem was extinguished by residents before the arrival of fire crews, but the stove, microwave, cabinets and kitchen carpet were damaged.
•12:04 p.m. Sunday: The county Fire Investigation Team and the sheriff’s office are investigating the cause of an explosion and fire in an outbuilding in the woods behind 1152 Thomas Drive. Firefighters had to extend fire hose through the woods to extinguish the flames, but the structure was destroyed.
•2:06 p.m. Sunday: Lightning sparked a fire and caused additional damage to a commercial structure at 301 Cedar Creek Road. The lightning ignited material in a crawl space under the building.
•2:14 p.m. Sunday: Two residents were displaced by a fire sparked by a lightning strike at 1320 Center Drive. The fire began in the basement and spread to the kitchen and attic. The lightning also caused other damage to the house.
Between two of the Sunday fires in the county, emergency personnel from the Winder Police Department responded to an emergency call outside the city limits on Stonegate Drive.
"We responded with Barrow County at 1:32 to Stonegate Drive on a rescue call for a child not breathing," said Winder Fire Chief Ray Mattison. "This was at a time when they were having runs all out in the county."
The city also provided backup for a county wreck on Hwy. 211 at Booth Circle, but the backup request was canceled while the city crew was still en route, Mattison said.
Meanwhile, the only fire alarm in the city was a false one at Winder-Barrow Middle School.
"We were very fortunate in the city," Mattison said. "Everything was moving around us."
1. answer the 911 calls - get use to "please hold, your call is important to us, we will answer your call in the order received, please do not hang up and call ....."
2. respond to emergency - get use to "all emergency service employees are busy on other calls ..... we will get to you as soon as someone becomes available"
Gee, really hope people don't need police, sheriff, fire, or other emergency services....