Both homes are total losses following Easter weekend fires

Local firefighters were busy on Sunday night after back-to-back calls saw engines rush out to structure fires, but both were ultimately deemed total losses despite the best efforts of Cedartown Fire and Rescue.

Chief Kyle Watters reported that the first call for a structure fire came in on Fairview Avenue around 10:30 p.m., and when firefighters arrived found the home already fully engulfed in flames.

The fire was put out, but the structure was a total loss. The fire also caused minor exterior damage to a neighboring residence.

Watters noted the State Fire Marshals Office will be investigating the Fairview Avenue incident.

They won’t be utilized to investigate a second fire on Sixth Street just outside the city limits that was called in just over an hour later.

Cedartown Fire and Rescue provided mutual aid to Polk County Fire Rescue to a Sixth Street residence after a new call came in at 11:40 p.m. of a structure fire.

When crews arrived, Watters said the firefighters found the roof already ablaze. Though the department was able to also get this fire under control, the structure was also a total loss.

Watters said no official investigation will be taken up on the second fire of the night. He noted it appeared to have begun in the attic due to what crews found when they arrived, but it is only a suspected origin point since no immediate cause for either fire was immediately known.