As employees were opening the Napa Auto Parts store for business Tuesday morning, a fire broke out. They escaped and called 911.
According to Fire Chief Jamey Williamson, Eatonton Fire Department firefighters responded within three minutes of receiving the call at 7:43 a.m.
“When I pulled up there was already smoke coming out the roofline,” he said. “It’s a commercial building, so it doesn’t have eaves like a house, but the smoke was coming out, and obviously, something was on fire.”
Because the business is in a commercial building made of galvanized metal siding and a roof with concrete floors, it was too hot for the firefighters to enter, so Williamson said they used the Putnam County Fire Department’s Ladder 3 truck to get on the roof.
“We had to cut a hole in the roof so the building would cool off so we could get inside,” he said. “When they opened the door, it got oxygen, and the fire took off.”
EFD’s Engine 1 and Tanker 1 trucks responded, and hooked up to the hydrant across the street. In addition to the Ladder 3 truck, the county fire department sent three engines and one battalion truck.
“Putnam County Chief Tommy McClain was helping me with the command, and Battalion Chief Clint Collins, we had plenty of help, and we had a great supply line,” Williamson said, referring to the new 5-inch waterlines the city fire department recently purchased with grant funds.
Williamson said everything inside the building was damaged by water, smoke, or fire. They spent several hours going from one end of the building to the other to extinguish hot spots.
The state fire marshal came a few hours later and surveyed the building and determined the fire started around the HVAC system in the interior loft of the building, which also serves as additional storage.
“That’s what he said, but that’s not official,” Williamson emphasized.
The store manager and two employees were in the building when they noticed the smoke, but no one was injured.
It was the city’s second fire in a week, Williamson said. A mobile home on the 200 block of Jesse Porter Street caught fire on Nov. 13.
“An elderly lady lives there and when she came home from church, she noticed smoke coming out of the house, so she didn’t go in, she called 911,” Williamson said.
Once again, the city and county firefighters and apparatuses responded and took care of the fire quickly. However, Williamson said the fire burned through the kitchen roof.
“Eric Reid, the local fire marshal, said the cause was electrical,” he added. “And the resident has plenty of family in town to stay with and care for her, but I also contacted the Red Cross in case she needs anything.”