A cat trying to jump onto a refrigerator started a fire inside a Clarkesville apartment, investigators say.
The Sunday afternoon fire at Cameron Apartments off Gabrels Drive broke out shortly after 3 p.m. on February 5. Habersham County E-911 dispatched firefighters from Clarkesville and Demorest to the scene along with Habersham County Emergency Services. Units arrived to find an active fire alarm in Building 117 and water coming from under the door of Apartment B.
“Crews forced entry into the apartment to find smoke in the apartment along with one sprinkler head activated,” says Clarkesville Fire Department Chief Jason Poole. “The sprinkler system had contained and extinguished a fire in the kitchen area of the apartment.”
The sprinkler system contained the fire. The flames did not spread to adjacent apartments. The Clarkesville Fire Department asked the State Fire Marshal’s Office to assist with the investigation to determine what caused the fire. That investigation pointed to the family cat.
Investigators determined that while attempting to jump to the refrigerator, the cat activated a toaster and knocked a bag off the refrigerator onto the toaster. The residents were not home at the time of the fire. Firefighters rescued their pets, Chief Poole says.
This isn’t the first time officials have suspected a cat of causing a fire inside a local residence. In December 2021, firefighters were called to the scene of a house fire on Wayside Street in Cornelia. Investigators determined an overturned lamp caused that fire.
