Afternoon Fire Destroys Fort Oglethorpe House

FORT OGLETHORPE, GA – Sunday, February 10, 2008 – At about 3:40 PM, Fort Oglethorpe Fire
and Rescue was toned out for a residential structure fire at 298 Century Drive at Bunker Drive.  First
on the scene was Battalion Chief Marlin Thompson (906) who reported a well involved single story
residence.  

Fire had already consumed much of the rear of the residence and most of the roof had already
collapsed prior to the arrival of the first piece of apparatus.  Several hand lines were placed into
service immediately along with the deluge gun from Engine 10.  The exposures on the B and D sides
were already suffering heat damage so lines were stretched to protect them.

The majority of the fire was knocked down within 10 minutes of the arrival of the first piece of
apparatus.  Unfortunately the fire had a tremendous head start before anyone ever called 9-1-1 and
firefighters were unable to save any of the structure or its contents.  A motorcycle parked in the
garage was also destroyed.

First arriving personnel were notified of a dog inside the residence and attempted to make entry to
save the dog but could not due to the intense heat and fire.

The homeowners were not at home when the fire broke out but returned shortly after firefighters
arrived.  Angel EMS was on the scene but there were no injuries as a result of the fire.  The cause
and origin of the fire are under investigation.  Fort Oglethorpe Police Department also assisted.  Fort
Oglethorpe Air/Light 1 was also on the scene along with the following Chiefs, Chief Bruce Ballew
(900), Assistant Chief Glenn Davis (903), Battalion Chief Doug Flury (907) and Battalion Chief Gary
McGhee (908).  A dollar amount has not yet been determined for the loss.