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November 23, 2007

Friday night fire leaves two homeless

Alexander Cain

A Friday evening fire left two residents homeless and two dogs dead at the scene.

The Milledgeville Police and Fire departments responded to a call of a home on fire at 141 E. Screven St. around 7:45 p.m. Friday evening.

Rodney Byrd, owner of C&R; Transmissions on Wayne Street, was driving down Screven Street from Wayne Street when he noticed flames coming from the one-story home.

“I was cutting through Screven going to the Video Bazaar on Elbert Street and happened to see the porch on fire,” Byrd said. “I called 911 and went to see if I could find a water hose but was unable to find one on the property. At that time the fire seemed to be mostly localized to the porch.”

Byrd said he went around the home knocking on windows to try to alert anyone inside to the flames but received no response.

“I could hear glass breaking inside and see that the house was lit up from the inside from the flames,” Byrd said. “I tapped on the windows but no one answered.”

The two residents of the home, Jason Mims and Nathan Atkinson, were not home at the time. Both are employees of The Brick on Hancock Street.

“It’s too early to say what we’re going to do to help them out, but The Brick family takes care of its own,” Frank Pendergast, owner of The Brick, said.

As firefighters responded to the scene, they received word that four dogs, normally kept inside the residence while Mims and Atkinson are at work, were still inside the property.

Firefighters fought through flames and smoke in an attempt to rescue the animals and eventually were able to pull all four from the home.

The four dogs were “two Labrador retrievers and two small mixed-breeds,” Atkinson said.

Two of the dogs, “Roxie,” the Labrador retriever, and “Charlie,” the mixed-breed, did not survive the fire.

Firefighters were able to revive the other two dogs — “Ember” and “Abby” — through a combination of CPR and the administration of oxygen.

Atkinson said he heard the fire might have started in the kitchen. The exact cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

The property is owned by David Pettigrew, according to witnesses at the scene.

Mims and Atkinson reportedly had renters insurance, though it could be weeks before the home is able to be inhabited again.

“I’m not really sure what we’re going to do. We have places to go but I’m not thinking of much else right now,” Mims said.

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