It may be sometime Friday before fire investigators can begin looking into the cause of a fire that destroyed a large lumber company in White County early Thursday morning.
Cleveland Fire Chief Ricky Pruitt says the fire at North Georgia Hardwood was first reported around 3:30 a.m. by an employee who lived in an apartment located on property next to the business on Appalachian Trail Drive off Helen Highway.
"It originated in a storage area where lumber is stored," Pruitt said. "It [the business] was almost fully involved upon our arrival."
Pruitt said the fire spread quickly to three separate buildings occupied by the business. He said about three million board feet of lumber was destroyed in the fire.
He said no one was hurt, but there was a close call involving a driver who had delivered a load of lumber at some point during the night and was asleep in the cab of the truck, which was parked outside the business.
"It caught the lumber on fire. We attempted to put out and extinguish as much of that as we could but the truck and trailer did sustain some damage to it," Pruitt said.
Pruitt said the fire scene remained very hot hours after the fire was brought under control and extinguished, so he said investigators probably would not be able to start work until some point on Friday. The State Fire Marshal will assist Cleveland Fire Investigator Jason Davis with the investigation.
Pruitt said about 40 personnel from the Cleveland Fire Department, White County Fire Services and the Lee Arrendale Correctional Institution fire brigade battled the blaze.
