Staff Reports
Within minutes of a February 27th 7:30 a.m. call into the Gwinnett County 9-1-1 system, fire crews arrived on the scene of a fire in the 400 block of Eagle Tiff Drive NE in Sugar Hill.
When crews arrived they found a working fire on a three-story townhome. Flames were pushing out of the garage located on the front of the townhome. Thanks to working smoke alarms inside of the residence, the occupants had already evacuated the unit where the fire started. The blaze was at such a size and it was quickly spreading so firefighters deployed a large hose line to begin their attack. After walking around the townhome, crews discovered that the fire had already moved up to the first and second floors. Crews were forced to deploy two additional fire attack hose lines to help extinguish the blaze.
Neighbors told firefighters that an elderly person with limited mobility was still inside of the townhome to the right of the unit where the fire was. Crews knocked on the door and no one responded so crews forced entry into the unit. An elderly person was located trying to get into a mechanical stairlift to get down to the first floor. Firefighters quickly carried the elderly patient out of the townhome just as it was beginning to fill with smoke.
The fire was knocked down at 7:51 a.m. and was completely under control at 8:20 a.m.
According to the Gwinnett County Fire Department’s press release, Battalion-3 reported that the townhome where the fire occurred was completely “gutted”. The adjacent unit had minor smoke damage on the top floors.
One of the occupants of the fire unit was evaluated on scene by the paramedics for minor complaints. “The patient was later transported, non-emergent, to the hospital for further evaluation.” The elderly person carried out of the adjacent unit was also evaluated but the person declined transport to the hospital. A patient refusal was obtained.
A total of two families were assisted by the American Red Cross. The unit where the fire occurred was a family of three, two adults and one child. The fire forced the power to be shut off to the three townhomes on the block so assistance is also being provided for a family of five (three adults and two children) who lived furthest from the fire unit. The elderly person in the neighboring unit that suffered smoke damage declined assistance from the American Red Cross.
Per Fire investigators, the blaze was caused by a trickle battery charger in the garage.
5-Engines, 2-Ladder Trucks, 1-Squad, 1-Air & Light Unit, 2-Medical Units, 1- District Commander, 2-Battalion Chiefs, 3-Fire Investigators, and 1-PIO responded to the fire.
