The State Fire Marshal’s Office has identified the man killed in an early morning fire in Demorest as 53-year old Johnny Higginbotham. Higginbotham was inside a camper outside his family’s residence at 331 Habersham Mills Road when it caught fire before dawn on Friday, January 21. A passing motorist saw the fire and called 911.
Habersham E-911 dispatched firefighters from Habersham, Clarkesville, and Demorest fire departments to the scene around 7:38 a.m. with a report of someone possibly trapped inside.
“Units were on scene within five to eight minutes to find a fully engulfed camper and it was confirmed that there was someone inside,” says Habersham County Emergency Services Fire Capt. Matt Ruark.
Although the camper was parked near the front of the house, the majority of the fire was contained to the 30-year-old, 200 square foot camper.
“The camper being metal on the outside, only allowed the fire to vent from the windows once they were compromised,” Ruark says.
Traffic on Habersham Mills Road near Historic Highway 441 was temporarily blocked as crews worked to put out the fire and clear the scene.
County fire officials asked the State Fire Marshal’s Office to help determine the cause of the fire. Investigators have not said what sparked the deadly blaze, but Davis Warnell with the State Fire Commissioner’s Office says “it appears to be accidental.” He says the investigation continues.
Higginbotham was known to people in Habersham County who often saw him sitting on the side of the road in Clarkesville asking for money because he said he had bone cancer. He tragically lost two sons in recent years. Members of the local community took to social media to offer up their prayers for the family.
The Habersham County Coroner’s Office sent Higginbotham’s body to the GBI Crime Lab in Decatur for an autopsy. Coroner Kasey McEntire says, “We won’t know anything further until the investigation is complete.”
Higginbotham’s death marks the first fire-related fatality in Habersham County this year and the 16th fire-related death in Georgia. At least three of those fatalities have occurred in Northeast Georgia.
This week the Rabun County coroner released the name of one of two people killed in a house fire in Rabun Gap on January 13.
