Monday, March 9, 2015

1 WOMAN, 2 DOGS DEAD IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA SUBURB FIRE









MARCH 9, 2015

JOHNS CREEK, GEORGIA

One person was killed Monday in a predawn fire the ripped through a Johns Creek home.

The fire was reported shortly before 6 a.m. at a home on Summer Crest Court, in a neighborhood off Haynes Bridge Road, Johns Creek fire Chief Jeff Hogan said.

He said firefighters arrived about five minutes later to find the split-level house fully involved in flames from an “extreme, very hot fire.”  Hogan tells WXIA-TV (http://on.11alive.com/1KKrNyl) that firefighters had to climb ladders and enter the house through a window at the top of the garage to battle the fire from above.

Hogan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that once the fire was knocked down, crews found the victim dead in the living room area, about 15 feet from the front door.

Two dogs were also found dead inside the home, he said.

Hogan said the identity of the person killed has not been determined.
Investigators do not know how the fire started, or whether there were working smoke detectors, he said.  They do believe though that it started in the living room.  The fire source is not known.

Neighbor Kim Dean said a woman in her 50s had lived in the home for more than 20 years.

“She was a great lady, did a lot of volunteer work,” Dean said. “She lived life quite large – quite the personality, touched a lot of people in a lot of ways.”  

 Neighbors told 11Alive's Kaitlyn Ross the woman ran a hairdressing business out of the house. They said she was very popular in the neighborhood and welcomed everyone into her home.

The neighborhood is a small one where most residents have “been here quite a while,” Dean said.

“We tend to know each other and watch out for each other,” she said. “It’s kind of old-school.”
Source: www.11alive.com