Turner County- Firefighters put an end to a suspicious blaze in Sycamore Monday evening. In the afternoon, they got a call to go to an abandoned building. "It was fully involved when we got on the scene," says Sycamore Fire Chief Leonard Coleman.
Old tires and equipment were still smoking in what has been a vacant building for years. Officials say someone must have set the fire. "There was no electricity or anything to the building so that's the best we know at this time."
And people who live in a neighboring home rushed to the scene when they heard their house was in danger. "I actually thought my house was on fire. I really thought it was and I really panicked," says resident Edna Maddie.
The flames burned power and cable lines overhead, collapsed the roof and blew out the side wall. The heat did damage to the underpinning of the mobile home. "The fire was like in the yard and in the tree area so it was just really melting," says Maddie.
"A trailer is easy to catch on fire and it's hard to actually put it out so if it catches, it's just going to burn so I thank them for getting here and doing the best job that they could," says resident Barbara Nettles. And they're thankful that there wasn't anymore damage and no one was home at the time including their young children.
"That's what happens when you stay prayed up. God's got a shield over you," says Maddie. And over there home so they're already looking to the future. Nettles says, "The next step would be the cleanup part and they say they're going to get all that pushed down so..."
Now they don't have to worry about any other suspicious fires. They say that insurance should cover the cost of repairs to their home but they say there's no price tag on knowing that their home and family are both safe.
Investigators are still looking into who may have set the suspicious fire.
posted by len.kiese@walb.com
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