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FIRE from 1A
in flames, he said.
A specially fitted T-wrench
is required to open and close
the valve, city director of utili
ties Jon Heard said.
Not all fire engines are
equipped with a T-wrench.
Luckily, one of the engines
present had a T-wrench and
the hydrant was later opened
for use.
The second hydrant located
on Delfaire Trace, a
street of Deerbome Drive, was
damaged and completely
unworkable, Heard said.
“By now, we’d virtually
won the lottery. We’d hooked
up to two plugs and had no
water,” Clark said.
Residents speculated at
Thursday’s meeting that the
hydrant had been dry since
the subdivision’s construction
two and a half years ago.
Clark said he is in the process
of locating the hydrant’s
impection records.
Though three other
hydrants were located within
the legal limit of 500 feet,
some residents blamed the
ncnworking hydrants for their
lots.
Manchester Court home
owners association president
Nancy Blankenship said she
asked battalion chief Tommy
Coleman on April 4 why the
two fire hydrants malfunc
tioned.
“The answer I got was
they really didn't know,” she
sad.
The fire department knew
the hydrants did not work
properly, Clark said, but no
ore followed up with the city
wtter department to confirm
the problem was solved.
Tlough Manchester Court is
located outside the Cumming
ciy limits, the city serves the
sibdivision’s water needs.
Since Sunday, Fire Chief
Dinny Bowman said he has
ccrrected the communication
gtp between the two depart
ments.
“So we’re making
progress already and only 96
h»urs ago we were in a big
itess,” Blankenship said.
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Each fire station tests the
hydrants in their district
twice annually. If a hydrant is
found to be out of commis
sion, it is reported to the bat
talion chief. The battalion
chief typically fills out a
maintenance request form
and forwards a copy to the
appropriate water department
the city or county, fire
officials said.
Bowman has said a
request form had been sub
mitted to the city water
department, though he has no
proof.
Since Sunday, the water
department will now sign off
on the form when the repairs
are completed and return a
copy to the fire department,
Heard said. In the meantime,
a brightly colored ring will be
placed on the cap of the fire
hydrant to mark a nonwork
ing hydrant.
Firefighters will recheck
the hydrant within 30 days to
make sure it is in proper
working order. Bowman said.
Also, hydrants will be
tested for full water flow
instead of the "trickle"
method currently used.
The trickle method was
implemented after county res
idents complained that full
force streams ruined their
yards and stirred up sediment
in the water main.
Manchester Court resi
dents at the meeting said
they don’t mind rusty laun
dry or muddy yards. They
want their neighborhood to
be "a poster child for fire
safety."
"I know the decision was
made years ago to do the
trickle, but that’s not satisfac
tory to me.” said Mary Peters
of 3906 Deerbome Drive.
She and her husband, Dan,
lost an entire side wall of
their house to the heat, which
melted the vinyl siding.
Firefighters were able to sup
press the flames before they
spread to the rest of the struc
ture, she said.
Another change in fire
department policy is that all
fire engines will carry a T
wrench to turn hydrants on
and off at the water main,
Clark said.
The residents also criti
cized the fire department
because the second fire
engine heading to the scene
passed Manchester Court and
headed to Manchester Park
subdivision next door.
A resident reportedly was
waving at engine 15 as it
passed.
"When someone’s waving
at a fire truck we see that
all the time," Clark said,
explaining why the engine
did not stop.
Firefighters received
directions for Manchester
Park, Clark said. The first
engine reached the correct
destination because the bat
talion chief identified smoke
in Manchester Court.
A resident requested to
hear the 911 tape including
the directions, which Clark
said he would provide.
Nathaniel Adams, a resi
dent in north Forsyth County,
asked Clark why more
engines were not deployed
initially to a structure fire.
Two engines were dispatched
to the fire in Manchester
Court. If the fire had been in
the upscale south Forsyth
subdivision of Windermere,
three engines would have
been sent according to fire
department policy, Adams
said.
Clark said the grassy,
undeveloped hills in
Windermere bum quickly. In
Windermere’s few years of
existence, Clark said the
department has seen two inci
dents where the grass caught
fire and threatened several
homes. Three engines are
required to cover the poten
tial disaster to which
Windermere is susceptible,
he said.
Though Manchester Court
is a cluster development and
has little grass to burn, the
insulation in the homes
apparently spread flames rap
idly. Sally Bacon, whose
home on Somersal Court
backed up to the fire storm,
watched the fire as it spread
through the five houses. She
said it took about three min
utes for fire to tear through
an attic and emerge on the
other side.
“It was like someone was
holding a blow torch to the
attic," she said.
Damon Rose with the
Customer Relations
Department of Pulte Homes,
which built the homes in the
subdivision and Manchester
Park, said he did not know at
Thursday’s meeting what
kind of thermal insulation
was used in the houses.
On Thursday, Pulte repre
sentatives brought blueprints,
supplier lists and rebuilding
information to the five resi
dents whose houses burned to
the concrete foundation.
The homeowners’ insur
ance companies will decide
what contractor will rebuild
the homes, but Pulte is will
ing to do the job, Rose said.
At least three of homeowners
at the meeting clearly wanted
Pulte to rebuild their houses.
If Pulte is approved for the
job, the houses could be
rebuilt as soon as 90 to 120
days, Rose said.
Pulte will provide cleanup
services for free, which will
save the homeowners thou
sands of dollars, Rose said.
The owner of 3914
Deerbome Drive was not
present at the meeting. Her
home is cordoned off by
chain link fence while an
investigation into the cause
of the fire continues.
Clark said so far the
investigators can confirm that
the homeowner was cooking
on a charcoal grill inside her
screened porch, which caught
fire.
Gasoline was involved,
but Clark could not say
whether the homeowner
poured the gasoline on the
fire or whether the fumes
from the nearby gas can
ignited.
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FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS - Sunday, April 11,2004 -
Sex offender back
behind bars after
violating parole
By Colby Jon»»
Staff Writer
A Cumming man who
served 10 years in prison for
incest is back behind bars after
allegedly failing to notify law
enforcement authorities of his
new home address.
Grady Lamar Hudson, 43,
was arrested April 6 after
detectives paid a surprise visit
to his house in the 3900 block
of Drew Campground Road
and discovered he no longer
lived there, said Capt. Ron
Freeman.
Hudson was charged with
violating provisions of the
Georgia Sex Offender
Registry.
Under the law, convicted
sex offenders annually must
register their current home
address and employment
information with the state.
After registering, offenders are
required to notify law enforce
ment authorities of any
changes within 10 days.
Failure to do so is a felony
punishable from one to three
years in prison.
Hudson was convicted in
December 1993 of incest in
Forsyth County Superior
Court, according to the
Georgia Department of
Corrections. Following the
conviction, Hudson spent 10
years in prison.
Upon his release in
November 2003, he registered
as a sex offender with the
state.
BURGLARY from 6A
out of it with a slender metal
pole, according to Goss.
An office inside the busi
ness also was ransacked.
An investigation into both
Grady Lamar Hudaon
Although he initially regis
tered, Hudson failed to notify
law enforcement of his new
home address, Freeman said.
Freeman did not specify
where Hudson had been resid
ing. As of Friday afternoon,
Hudson remained in custody
at the Forsyth County Jail.
The arrest is part of a rela
tively new multi-agency effort
to keep tabs on sex offenders
who have been released from
prison.
In May 2003, a Forsyth
County sheriff’s detective,
deputy.from the agency’s
reserve unit and a probation
officer began randomly visit
ing the homes and workplaces
of sex offenders to ensure they
are complying with the state’s
reporting guidelines.
There currently are 33 sex
offenders residing in Forsyth
County. Their names and cur
rent addresses can be found on
the Forsyth County Sheriff’s
Office Web site at
www.forsythsheriff.org.
burglaries is continuing.
Anyone with information
about the case should call the
Cumming Police Department
at (770) 781-2000.
PAGE 7A