Molotov Cocktail Used To Burn Gwinnett Business

LILBURN, GA — Someone used a Molotov cocktail to set fire to a Gwinnett County business this week, investigators say.

The incident happened shortly before 7 a.m. on Monday at Waypoint Homes, in the 4000 block of Stone Mountain Highway near Killian Hill Road.

Gwinnett County Fire & Emergency Services spokesman Capt. Tommy Rutledge said an employee was working at the time and heard glass breaking as something was thrown through a window of a nearby conference room.

After a few seconds, the employee went to the front of the business and found smoke and flames coming from the conference room. That employee doused the flames before calling 911, Rutledge said. Fire crews found the fire extinguished when they arrived.

Investigators were called in due to the nature of the fire and collected evidence that the item thrown through the window was a Molotov cocktail, Rutledge said. They also found liquid accelerant and a rock.

Rutledge said video surveillance showed someone throwing a rock through the window, then tossing a flaming object inside the business and driving away.

"Fortunately, the employee was not injured and was able to quickly smother the fire with a floor mat and water," Rutledge said.

The blaze caused minor damage to a wall and part of the carpet in the conference room and sent smoke throughout the office suite. Investigators are talking with management and employees in an effort to develop leads in the case.

Waypoint Homes is a real estate company that rents out single-family homes.

Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the Gwinnett Fire Investigations Section at 678.518.4890 or the Georgia Arson Control Hotline at 1-800-282-5804. Georgia Arson Control, Inc. offers a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible.

Photo courtesy Gwinnett Fire & Emergency Services