GAINESVILLE - The Hall County Fire Department is investigating an early Sunday morning fire that swept through a building on the south side of Gainesville.
According to Fire Marshal Scott Cagle, crews were called to the location on Atlanta Highway near Titshaw Drive at approximately 3:22 a.m.
"Firefighters arrived to an 8,000 square-foot...building with heavy fire already showing through the roof," he said. He added that crews were forced to battle the fire mainly from outside the building due to a partial ceiling and wall collapse.
The building, which Cagle said was vacant at the time of the fire, had no known owner, and no potential damage estimate was calculated by investigators.
Cagle said the initial thought was that the fire was accidental in nature and that a case of arson was not to blame, but that arson had not been ruled out at that early juncture.
"There was power to the building, so right now we do not have a cause of the fire," he explained.
He continued: "It having power, that makes us feel a little better, but it's a vacant building, it's 3:00 in the morning, that's when those suspicious fires take place, so we'll obvioulsy be looking at that."
No injuries were reported, and Cagle said crews remained on scene for several hours to extinguish any remaining hot spots that might appear.
Monday
October 21st, 2024
7:35PM
