Officials are offering a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for setting fire to a burned out apartment building on Irvin Street. (Daniel Purcell/Now Habersham)
Cornelia Fire Marshal Lt. Josh Hazle says arson is to blame for a fire that broke out early Monday morning in a burned out apartment building in Cornelia. Now, officials are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible.
This was the second fire at the same location at 459 Irvin Street in the past two months. The building was gutted by fire on August 30 and had already been declared a total loss by the insurance company, according to Lt. Hazle.
He says a neighbor reported seeing people on the property recently and thought someone might have been inside when they called 911 to report the fire this morning.
“Fire crews arrived and found the apartment building under heavy fire conditions. Firefighters made a quick search of the lower apartment units and found no victims,” Hazle says.
Firefighters were unable to search any of the two upper units due to the building already beginning to collapse. They knocked down the fire within thirty minutes of arriving on the scene and remained on scene for several more hours to make sure the fire did not reignite.
No one was injured in the fire.
The Cornelia Fire Department was assisted by Habersham County Emergency Services, the Baldwin and Lee Arrendale Fire Departments, the State Fire Marshals Office, and Cornelia Police.
Both the Cornelia and State Fire Marshal’s office will continue to investigate and follow up on any leads, Hazle says.
Anyone with information about the fire is asked to contact the Georgia Arson Control Tip Line at 1-800-282-5804. All information is kept confidential.
The building housed four apartment units. Thirteen people were left homeless by the fire in August. Investigators were unable to determine the exact cause of that fire, but Lt. Hazle says it was not suspicious.
Click photos to enlarge
By: Daniel Purcell | Now Habersham
