Just before 3 a.m. on Thursday, June 25, the resident at 849 Friendship Church Road called 911 to report her home was on fire and that she had evacuated the house.
At 2:52 a.m., Emanuel County firefighters from Garfield, Swainsboro, and Twin City, along with EMS and Sheriff’s deputies, were dispatched. First arriving units found a 1500-sqaure-foot single story dwelling with heavy fire showing.
At 3:13 a.m., due to the volume of fire, additional help was requested from Canoochee. A tanker shuttle utilizing three engines was begun between the scene and a hydrant in Twin City to assure an adequate water supply. The initial interior attack team was driven out of the building due to temperatures levels reaching over 1000º. Operations changed to exterior at this time.
At 4 a.m., Excelsior EMC was requested to shut down power to the structure. Over the next four hours, firefighters battled the blaze utilizing more than 8,000 gallons of water. The home had been remodeled and had a double layer of roofing shingles covered by a metal roof trapping fire, heat and smoke inside the building.
After the fire was knocked down, thermal image camera reading were above 500 degrees inside the structure. No injuries were reported, and the cause of the fire is undetermined. The last engine cleared the scene at 11:01 a.m.
