A tower of smoke billowing from a fast-burning blaze in Trahlyta Estates could be seen throughout downtown Dahlonega Friday morning.
In fact, Lumpkin County Fire Marshal Chris Maloney spotted the fire from the parking lot of Station 1 just before the official call went out. “He pulled into the office and when he got out of the car he could see it,” said Fire Chief David Wimpy. “He called dispatch and they said they just got a call from a neighbor.”
It was around 7:30 a.m. that the call came in. Firefighters raced to the gated community on the north end of the county where they found the multi-story, 2,500 square-foot residence fully engulfed in flames.
Wimpy said the blaze was burning particularly fast and hot.
“It was solid logs. And man, once a log cabin gets burning it’s hard to get it out. It’s probably still smoking today,” he said on Monday morning.
No one was injured in the fire and the cause is yet to be determined, according to officials.
ALL-OUT EFFORT
Since salvaging the house was no longer an option, containing the flames and saving other nearby homes became the main priority.
However, Wimpy said the steep terrain of the neighborhood made this a challenge.
“It was on the side of a bluff,” he said. “The big thing is you’ve got to take care of the exposures. Keep those contained while you’re trying to get the fire out.”
Wimpy said they were able to park a fire engine in the perfect spot above the house, which gave them a good strategic firefighting position.
“Luckily the way it was on the very top of the mountain, we had the road on the top side of it,” he said.
“So we could put the engine up there and spray down on it so we were able to protect the two houses behind it.”
On the ground, firefighters cleared out twisted sheet metal and hosed down hot spots as others worked to keep the flames from spreading throughout the detached garage. Firefighters from Camp Frank D. Merrill and White County assisted in the all-out effort, which ultimately stretched into the afternoon hours.
As of press-time, Maloney was still investigating the cause of the fire.