Firefighters battle blaze all day during freezing temperatures.
A loose chimney allows a blaze to cause heavy damage to a log cabin home on Old Collard Valley Road.
Extensive damage was suffered and some firefighters came away with minor injuries after they spent most of a day trying to put out a fire in a log cabin-style home on Old Collard Valley Road.
Firefighters responded to the call around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 17 in the 1800 block of Old Collard Valley Road where they found a house in flames.
Polk County Public Safety Director Randy Lacey, who also acts as Polk County’s fire chief for the Volunteer Fire Department, said that volunteers from his department, plus those from the Cedartown and Rockmart Fire Department all took part in trying to contain the house fire.
“We worked all day to get the hot spots knocked down,” Lacey said.
Firefighter’s efforts were hampered by freezing lines and fire hydrants due to the severe cold following a winter storm moving through on Tuesday night, Jan. 16, and left below-freezing temperatures in its wake.
Lacey said the house wasn’t a complete loss, but suffered extensive damage. The culprit was a weakly- built chimney “which is a surprise because it seemed like a really nice home.” He said the fire took hold when flames jumped into the attic from around the chimney’s rooftop vent.
No major injuries were reported due to the fire. Some firefighters did suffer from frostbite, and others from minor sprains due to slipping and falling in icy conditions.
‘We worked all day to get the hot spots knocked down.’ Randy Lacey Polk County public safety director and chief of the Polk County Volunteer Fire Department