Resident escapes unharmed
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
A local woman escaped without injury while city firefighters spent more than two hours fighting a predawn fire that destroyed the woman’s Peachtree Street home Monday morning, July 17.
Atmore Fire Department reports show the first wave of city firefighters was dispatched at 4:52 a.m. They arrived five minutes later to find some smoke coming from the structure but no flames showing inside the house, which is built of heart pine and had plywood nailed over the windows.
According to AFD reports, city police officers worked to remove the plywood window coverings as firefighters kicked in the home’s front door. Both actions, unfortunately, fed oxygen to the interior flames, causing them to increase in ferocity.
An additional firefighting crew from Poarch Creek Indians Fire Department was called in due to the structure-fire protocol of the mutual-aid agreement between the two agencies, and the last firefighters were finally able to clear the scene at 7:20 a.m.
Firefighters had not determined by Tuesday’s press time the cause of the fire nor the area in which it started, but reports indicate foul play is not suspected. The home was a total loss.
Local Red Cross officials were notified of the loss and began making provisions to locate temporary shelter for the home’s occupant.