Three-alarm fire destroys Jones Co. home
[The following press release and photo were submitted to FOX23 from Powers Fire & Rescue.]
A three alarm blaze in the Powers Community of Jones County destroyed a family's home, but fortunately caused no injuries to residents or to volunteer firefighters battling the fire. Volunteer fire units from Powers, Glade and M&M were dispatched by Jones County Emergency Operations Center 911 dispatchers at approximately 12:11am on Monday to a report of a home on fire at #47 Eastview Drive. Initial 911 calls indicated that callers were unsure if anyone was in the burning residence which had flames billowing out of the roof area. As additional information was gained it was believed by callers, but not confirmed, that no one was in the burning home and that information was relayed to responding fire units.
Powers Fire & Rescue Engine 1 was the first fire apparatus on the scene and a two man entry team crew entered the burning residence to search for any potential victims and locate the seat of the fire. The interior attack crew conducted a primary search of the residence finding no victims as the interior fire and smoke conditions worsened quickly. Fire suppression efforts began in the interior of the home as the flames spread rapidly in the attic of the home which had a metal roof (which made fire suppression efforts in the attic space very difficult) and at ground level. A secondary interior attack crew from Glade Fire & Rescue arrived and entered the burning residence and began assisting the Powers entry team with fire suppression efforts. Within moments, Incident Commander, Powers Fire Chief Joey Davis, ordered entry teams to evacuate as a roof collapse became increasingly imminent. Radio calls to the interior teams, accompanied by air horn and siren blasts from on-scene fire apparatus, signaled the interior teams to evacuate and all four firefighters exited the structure immediately.
A second alarm dispatched Sandersville Fire & Rescue and a third alarm dispatched Calhoun Fire & Rescue and Shady Grove Fire & Rescue for tanker and manpower support. At the height of the fire, over a dozen fire apparatus and two dozen volunteer firefighters were on the scene battling the intense fire. Beat 3 was requested and responded with a trackhoe to assist firefighters with removing the collapsed metal roof to access burning areas of the home. Incident Command began releasing fire apparatus from the scene once the bulk of the fire had been extinguished in order to return fire units back to cover their normal fire protection areas.
There were no injuries reported at the scene to firefighters and all fire units were back in service at approximately 5:00am. No cause of the fire was immediately determined.
