Fire Destroys Grayson Home, Family Of Five Displaced

GRAYSON, GA—A family of five is temporarily staying with relatives after a fire destroyed their home in Grayson Wednesday afternoon, according to firefighters.

Firefighters say they responded at 4:32 p.m. to a passerby report of a house fire in the 900 block of Cooper Road in Grayson. Multiple callers to 911 reported flames coming from the house.

Once on scene, responding fire crews say they could see a heavy column of dark smoke from a distance as they approached the scene. They found a large two-story, wood-frame house fully-involved.

Crews deployed fire attack and water supply hose lines and positioned the first-arriving ladder truck for aerial operations. Flames were burning on both levels and in the attic, forcing firefighters to knock down the bulk of the fire from the exterior, they said. Crews flowed water from three handlines and two aerial ladder trucks to extinguish the blaze, they said. Firefighters said the blaze was brought under control at 5:30 p.m.

There was no one home at the time of the fire and no injuries were reported. The homeowner was contacted by a neighbor and reported to the scene as crews were battling the blaze, firefighters confirmed. The woman said that she left the house around 3:15 p.m. to pick up her children from school. She told the fire investigator that she had a warming fire in the wood burning stove on the back-right corner of the house, officials said.

The area of origin is concentrated in the corner where the stove was located and cannot be ruled out as a potential cause by the investigator. The exact cause is undetermined and is under investigation.

Two dogs were believed to be inside the house at the time of the fire. One was deceased and one was unaccounted for at the time. The home and contents are considered a total loss, firefighters said.

A tractor from Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources was requested by the incident commander to take down unstable walls in order to complete extinguishment and rule the structure safe.

The family, three adults and two children, were displaced from the home and are being assisted by relatives and their insurance company. The family declined assistance from the American Red Cross, firefighters said.