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Forsyth CountvNews
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 19( 306
Vol. 95, No. 56
Fire sweeps through subdivision
Destroys
5 homes
By Nicole Green
Staff Writer
Five Cumming families lost their
homes after a Sunday afternoon bar
becue touched off a windswept I'ire
storm in Manchester Court subdivi
sion off Hutchinson Road.
The fire that likely started at an
outdoor barbecue grill around 4
p.m. destroyed five houses on
Deerborne Drive, caused heat dam
age to 14 houses and burned three
vehicles, Forsyth County Fire
Department Chief Danny Bowman
said.
No injuries to any residents were
reported, but a few pets remain
missing.
Three out of the five homes were
occupied when the fire began.
Eight firefighters were treated at
Northside Hospital Forsyth for
physical exhaustion and heat pros
tration. Bowman said. They were all
released Sunday night. The injured
firefighters included Rick Hamilton,
Jamie McPherson, Alan Kelton,
Robert Fox. Scott Sibenaller. Chris
Stancel, Wyatt Nix and David
McWhorter.
"Most of them lost two to three
pounds of body weight due to fluid
loss. But because they couldn't stop
fighting fire for the first hour, they
couldn’t replace their body fluids
with water and Gatorade," Bowman
said.
Firefighters responded to an
emergency call at 4:13 p.m. Two
engines, a medical unit and a battal
ion chief were dispatched for the
"full alarm assignment," Bowman
said, and arrived on the scene by
4:18 p.m.
Residents said the first engine
drove past the entrance to
Manchester Court and went to the
neighboring Manchester Park subdi
vision Bowman said he was not
aware that the driver missed his
turn.
Two fire hydrants malfunctioned
on Deerborne Drive in front of the
burning homes when firefighters
tried to access water with their
hoses. Bow man said.
Fire hydrants are inspected by
the fire department twice annually.
Once the fire department submits a
maintenance request to the city of
Cumming Department of Utilities, it
is the city's responsibility to repair
the hydrant. Bowman indicated that
such a request had been made.
"We don't have any record any
where that we ever received any
notice of any fire hydrants there,"
Forsyth businessman
eyes state Senate seat
By Harris Blackwood
Community Editor
Forsyth County businessman
Eugene E. “Chip" Pearson
announced Monday that he would
be a candidate for the new State
Senate District 51.
Pearson, who lives in Dawson
County, is seeking the Republican
nomination for the newly created
district which includes Dawson,
Pickens, Gilmer, Fannin, Union and
Lumpkin Counties, along with por
tions of Forsyth and White
Counties. The Forsyth portion
includes voters in just two precincts,
Crossroads and Pleasant Grove.
The seat is home to two other
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Thursday and Friday, and 9 a.m. -1
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Copyright C 2004 Fortyth County Now*
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Photos/Audra Perry and David McGregor
Above, firefighters work on Sunday to put out the remaining hot spots from the fire that swept through Manchester Court subdivision.
Bottom left, Lynn Silverthorne, who said she lost all she owned in the blaze, looks at one of the few recovered items from her house on
Monday. Bottom right, Caroline Barber and Ron Silverthorne help Lynn Silverthorne sort through the rubble.
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City Administrator Gerald
Blackbum said.
"Any time we get information on
malfunctioning or nonworking fire
hydrants, that’s our top priority with
our crews to get those repaired,"
Blackburn said.
Regardless of who was responsi
ble for repairing the hydrant,, resi
dents in Manchester Court and sur
rounding neighborhoods wen upset
about the mishap.
potential candidates, incumbent
state Sen. Carol Jackson (D-
Cleveland) who was redrawn into
the district by a federal court, and
state Rep. David Ralston, (R-Blue
Ridge) who served in the Senate for
six years before making an unsuc
cessful bid for state attorney general
in 1998. Ralston was elected to the
House in 2002, but has been
redrawn into a district with his col
league, Rep. Jack White, (R-Blue
Ridge). Neither Ralston nor Jackson
have announced their intentions to
run.
Pearson is the founder, president
See PEARSON, Page 3A
INDEX
Classifieds. 128
Deaths 2A
Events 6A
Horoscope 3B
Legals 4B
Opinion 10A
Sports IB
WEDNESDAY April 7, 2004
"When it comes to safety, you
can't drop the ball.” said Cindy
Rotton. a resident of Hutchenson
Pointe subdivision whose town
home backs up to Manchester
Court.
On Monday morning. Bowman
enacted a new fire department pro
cedure to monitor hydrant service
requests every 30 days until the
maintenance is completed.
Jon Heard, director of utilities
He
W P I
Photo/David McGregor
Subdued
Forsyth County sheriffs deputies subdue a man Monday morn
ing after a chase. The man had threatened suicide, deputies
said. They cornered the Explorer on Emerald Drive. The driver
will be charged with obstruction of an officer, attempting to elude
an officer and various traffic violations. He was admitted to
Northside Hospital Forsyth for mental evaluation.
Advice
Dear Abby
* dishes out
good advice.
Page3B
4 Jl|
Opinion
Columnist Bill Shipp
shares his perspective
of Georgia politics.
Page IDA
for the city, analyzed the water sys
tem in Manchester Court on
Monday. One of the fire hydrants
was dead and the other may have
low pressure, he said.
By law. a hydrant may be placed
a maximum of 500 feet away from
any home. Heard said. Five hydrants
are located within 500 feet of
Sunday’s fire, he said.
"Although two hydrants were in
question, there were three more
Possible Rain
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High in the low 70s.
Low in the low 50s.
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around it within the allowable dis
tance and in working condition,”
Heard said.
A city water employee went to
the fire on Sunday to see if he could
help and was turned away by fire
fighters who said the situation was
under control. Heard added.
Once hooked up to a hydrant,
firefighters created a "water curtain”
See FIRE, Page 2A
Tour de Georgia
will include trek
through Forsyth
From Staff Reports
Tour de France champion Lance
Armstrong will be among the com
petitors vying for top honors in the
second annual Dodge Tour de
Georgia, which will pass through
Forsyth County on the final day of
competition on April 25.
The sixth and final day will begin
in Dawsonville at Thunder Road
USA on Hwy. 53. The racers will
begin a westward trek that will wind
through portions of Pickens and
Cherokee counties before coming
into Forsyth on Hwy. 369.
The tour will turn onto Hwy. 9 at
See TOUR, Page 3A
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
April! 1069.96 ft
April 3 1069.97 ft
April 4 1069.96 ft
Aprils 1069.96 ft
Full 1071.00 ft