A 20-year-old Toccoa man was arrested after burning a large pile of garbage behind his residence, the Stephens County Sheriff’s Office says.
On Monday night, March 24, sheriff’s deputies and firefighters from the Carnes Creek and Shiloh fire departments responded to a 911 call reporting a possible brush fire off Terri Lane in southwest Toccoa. When firefighters arrived, they extinguished a large fire in the backyard of a residence fueled by a pile of man-made garbage, including a refrigerator. The fire was burning within 10 to 20 feet of a mobile home in a residential area, the sheriff’s office says.
According to authorities, the burn was illegal due to its size, the resident’s lack of a permit, and burning trash during a county-wide burn restriction. Deputies asked the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for assistance. A local DNR ranger determined the pile of garbage weighed over 500 pounds, making it a dump per Georgia Code.
The ranger charged Jordan Hardesty with unlawful dumping of egregious litter (greater than 500 pounds). Hardesty was booked into the Stephens County Jail and released the next morning on a $1,000 bond.
This is one of approximately 30 calls for service that Stephens County deputies and firefighters have responded to in less than two weeks due to brush fires, residential structure fires, and illegal burns.
