A White County firefighter was hospitalized early Thursday after suffering heat-related symptoms while battling a blaze west of Cleveland.
The fire broke out around 12:47 a.m. on July 31, in the 100 block of Staton Road. According to White County Fire Services, a passerby reported the fire to E-911 and said the structure appeared to be an abandoned home.
A sheriff’s deputy arrived first on the scene. They found the front porch of the two-story house fully engulfed in flames, with fire spreading to nearby vegetation.
White County and Cleveland firefighters entered the structure to conduct a search and battle the blaze. About half of the home was burning when they arrived, officials said.
White County EMS evaluated the firefighter and transported them to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Habersham, where they were later released.
The county’s CERT Rehabilitation Unit assisted at the scene, and Lumpkin County Station 7 provided mutual aid. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
