A Clarkesville firefighter carries a hose into a house on Pine Avenue in Demorest where fire broke out in a back bedroom. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
Imagine opening the door to your house after a long day at work only to find your home’s filled with smoke. That’s what happened to a family in Demorest on Monday.
They returned home to 286 Pine Avenue around 6 p.m. “A kid opened the door and saw smoke in the house,” says Habersham Fire Chief Chad Black. The homeowner traced the source to a back bedroom. When she opened the bedroom door she saw flames. She then did something that may have saved her home – she closed the bedroom door again.
The family grabbed their pets and fled from the burning house. The homeowner then called 911.
Firefighters from Demorest, Clarkesville and Habersham County resounded along with Demorest Police. They put out the flames before they spread. The bedroom sustained pretty heavy fire damage, according to Black. He says there was smoke damage throughout the house.
Still, it could have been worse.
Whether it was quick thinking or instinct, by closing that door the homeowner kept the fire contained.
“She did everything right,” Black says. He says it’s fortunate, too, that the door was already closed when she got there. No one had been in the home since 11:30 a.m.
Officials still don’t know what caused the fire or how long it was burning.
Black says, “If the door had been open, the chances of her coming home to the house would have been slim.”
He say it’s a good reminder to close interior doors to rooms you’re not using when you go to bed at night. Judging from this incident, it can help to keep them closed during the day, too.
The Demorest Fire Department is investigating what caused the fire.
