A small fire at a Christian camp outside Clarkesville Saturday forced campers out of their cabin. The fire caused minor damage to the bathroom where they were staying, but no one was injured.
The fire broke out around 6 p.m. at North Georgia Christian Camp (NGCC), located at 531 Christian Camp Lane off Highway 17. Units from Habersham County Emergency Services (HCES) responded to the call.
HCES Battalion Chief Dwight McNally says that when firefighters arrived, light smoke was visible from the dormitory-style building.
“Firefighters made entry and they found a very small fire inside of one of the bathrooms. It was contained to a trash can,” he says.
The camp was being rented by an outside organization, and the youth who were staying in that cabin were gathered in another building at the time of the fire.
“After further investigation, we determined that it was an accidental fire,” McNally says. “We were able to stop the fire in the bathroom area with minimal damage to the structure.”
The fire damaged a sink cabinet, PVC pipes, and a section of the bathroom wall.
“The cause is undetermined at this time but did not start from any of the heating devices,” HCES spokesperson Rob Moore tells Now Habersham.
Moore says the fire has been ruled accidental.
Camp officials planned to relocate the students to another housing unit on the property Saturday night due to smoke odor and water in the affected unit.
There were no injuries. Firefighters remained on the scene for about an hour.
According to the camp website, NGCC is a non-profit camp owned and supported by 29 non-denominational Christian Churches from South Georgia to North Carolina.
