Fire guts home on Biddy Road

♦ Another fire damages the interior of an Olmstead Street residence.

Rome firefighters were on the scene of a blaze that destroyed an old home on Biddy Road for nearly eight hours overnight.

Before that, units were called on to douse flames at a home on Olmstead Street but not before the interior of that residence was gutted.

The fire at 50 Biddy Road was originally dispatched as being on Bass Ferry Road, however Rome-floyd Fire Department Battalion Chief

Roger Haggard was able to quickly determine the correct address just a short distance off the north side of U.S. 411.

Rome Fire Marshal Mary Catherine Chewning said the cause of the fire on Biddy Road is undetermined and will take some serious investigation because the home was burned to the ground.

It was still smoldering from several locations when Chewning and investigator Brenton Whatley went back to the home Friday afternoon.

It was at that point the investigators learned from friends of the woman who owned the home that it had been vacant for several years but was full of personal belongings, many of them antiques.

Part of the south wall is about all that is left of the 100-year-old farm home.

“It was a productive investigation, we do have a few leads but nothing conclusive,” Chewning said late Friday afternoon.

Firefighters were able to save an outbuilding and several vehicles including a classic Ford Mustang.

Chewning said 911 center personnel did an amazing job tracking down the owner, who was not at home, to help personnel on the scene understand that no one was in the building.

“When the first responders got there the fire had already vented through the

roof of the two-story wood structure,” Chewning said. A quint, two engine companies and rescue squad were on the scene from 8 p.m. Thursday night until nearly 3:30 a.m. Friday.

Over at 1803 Olmstead St., it was actually the homeowner who flagged down Acting Battalion Chief Michael Crider as he drove by. Chewning said that the interior of that home sustained extensive damage.

“It was accidental by all appearances,” Chewning said. “We believe the fire was the result of an electrical overload with a heater placed too close to a mattress.”

No one was injured at the Olmstead Street address either.

Doug Walker Fire investigator Brenton Whatley checks over the still smoldering remains of a home at 50 Biddy Road which was destroyed Thursday night.

Doug Walker

Doug Walker The Biddy Road home had been vacant for several years and no one was injured during the eight-hour battle to control the fire and keep it from spreading to outbuildings and several vehicles.

Doug Walker Rome Fire Marshal Mary Catherine Chewning (left) speaks with Sherry Williams, a friend of the owner of a home at 50 Biddy Road which was gutted by fire Thursday night and Friday morning.