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For the Forsyth County News
Firefighters battled three blazes in less than 24 hours in Dawson, including
a 3,000-square-feet home on Harmony Church Road early Tuesday morn
ing. The cause of the Harmony Church Road fire has not been determined
but does not seem suspicious, according to authorities.
Two fires burn homes
at same time Tuesday
Forsyth-crews responded to
blazes on same road in Dawson
Forsyth County Fire
Department Division
Chief Jason Shivers said
most of the second bat
talion assisted on the
calls. They were back in
service by about 6:30
a.m.
The two fires were
among three residential
fires in Dawson County
in less than 24 hours,
and the other has been
deemed arson.
Two people are in
custody in connection
with the blaze on
Amicalola Church
Road.
Richard James
Justice, 47, and Karen
Renee Boling, 54, both
of Dawsonville, were
arrested Monday after
noon, according to
Dawson County
Sheriff’s jail records.
Their charges were
not immediately avail
able.
Swafford said the pair
was arrested hours after
firefighters responded
to the residential struc
ture fire reported just
before 7 a.m. Monday.
“Crews made an
aggressive attack, but
the structure suffered
heavy fire damage,” he
said. “The fire was
deemed to be intention
ally set, and there were
two arrests made yester
day in connection with
this fire.”
Swafford referred
questions about the
arrest to the Dawson
County Sheriff’s Office,
which handled the
investigation.
Dawson Sheriff Billy
Carlisle said warrants
were being secured to
officially book them on
criminal charges.
It was unclear as of
Tuesday afternoon if
either of the suspects
lived at the home.
Staff writer Kayla Robins
contributed to this report.
Michele Hester
FCN regional staff
DAWSON COUNTY
—_ Fire crews from
Forsyth and Dawson
counties responded to
two residential fires on
Harmony Church Road
and Hwy. 9 in Dawson
County early Tuesday
morning.
“They came in real
close to the same time.
Forsyth County
responded with mutual
aid for both fires.” said
Chief Lanier Swafford,
director of Dawson
County Emergency
Services.
The 3,000-square-foot
home on Harmony
Church Road was 70
percent involved when
workers arrived on the
scene just before 4 a.m.
Everyone was able to
get out of the house
safely before the fire
department’s arrival, but
the house is a total loss,
according to Swafford.
“There was a large
camper-trailer and an
outbuilding that was
saved with no damage.”
he said.
Shortly after crews
arrived at the Harmony
Church fire, a call came
in about another fire at a
home on Hwy. 9 South,
near Jenkins Road.
The call came in as a
bedroom on fire. The
first units arrived on
scene and reported that
a room and its contents
were on fire,” Swafford
said. “The fire was con
tained to that room, but
the structure did suffer
smoke and water dam
age.”
Neither of the
Tuesday morning fires
are considered suspi
cious, though both
remain under investiga
tion, according to
Swafford. No injuries
were reported in any of
the fires.
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Watch on ForsythNews.com/Studio
‘Crews made
an aggres
sive attack,
but the
structure suf
fered heavy
fire damage.’
Lanier Swafford
Emergency services
director,
Dawson County
NOTICE OF PROPERTY TAX INCREASE
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners has tentatively adopted a millage
rate which will require an increase in Maintenance and Operations property taxes
by 1.89 percent. :
All concerned citizens are invited to the public hearings on this tax increase to be
held at the Forsyth County Administration Building, 110 East Main Street, Suite
220, Cumming, Georgia, on Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m.
An additional public hearing on this tax increase will be held at the Forsyth
County Administration Building, 110 East Main Street, Suite 220, Cumming,
Georgia on Thursday, July 21, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.
This tentative increase will result in a millage rate of 4.642 mills for
Maintenance and Operations, an increase of 0.086 mills above the rollback rate.
Without this tentative tax increase, the millage rate will be no more than 4.556
mills. The proposed tax increase for a home with a fair market value of $250,000
is approximately $7.91 and the proposed tax increase for non-homestead
property with a fair market value of $250,000 is approximately $8.60.
The Forsyth County Board of Commissioners has also tentatively adopted the
following millage rates for Fire and Bonds:
1.975 Fire (an increase of 0.036 mills above the rollback rate)
1.419 Bond (an increase of 0.024 mills above the rollback rate)
Doug Derrer
County Manager
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released.
Gudino-Almazan has been charged
with possession of an open container
and two counts of obstruction of an
officer, according to his arrest
report.
“The GBI will conduct an inde
pendent investigation to determine
what occurred during the incident,”
stated the press release. “When the
investigation is complete, it will be
turned over to the district attor
ney’s office for review.”
The GBI isn’t yet releasing the
troopers’ names.
“The troopers involved, I know
them personally,” GSP Capt. Mark
Perry said Saturday night at the
hospital. “I know they have a
strong faith in God, and I know
that’s what it’s going to take to get
them through it.”
He added: “This is nothing we
ever want to happen, but unfortu-
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by braking and steering his vehicle
into the shoulder, but the impact
forced his truck into the guardrail.
He was towing a trailer loaded
with a Bobcat, which broke the
chains securing it during impact,
striking the back of the truck. The
trailer came to a rest under the rear
of the truck.
After going through surgeries in
Atlanta immediately after the
crash, Mendoza was kept in a med
ically induced coma.
Two of his passengers, a 38-year
old man and a 46-year-old man,
both from Lilburn, were taken to
North Fulton Hospital, where they
were admitted at the time for seri
ous buta non-life threatening inju
ries.
Two other passengers, a 40-year
old man from Norcross and a
19-year-old man from Lilburn,
ForsythNews.com | FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS |
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nately it’s part of the job we do.
It’s a dangerous job.”
In addition to the state patrol, the
Hall County Sheriff’s Office and
Gainesville Police Department
were involved in the checks with
the Governor’s Office of Highway
Safety as part of Operation Rolling
Thunder.
Law enforcement began patrol
ling the streets Thursday as part of
the program in which law enforce
ment agents are checking for
impaired drivers.
The operation initially was
planned to last through the week
end but was suspended as soon as
the incident happened, said Harris
Blackwood, the office’s director.
Before the incident, the operation
had been “very successful,” he said.
Traffic on Queen City Parkway was
blocked for much of Saturday evening
following the incident as authorities
conducted the investigation.
were also taken to North Fulton to
be treated for minor injuries and
were subsequently released.
The driver of the Ford Super
Duty, 30-year-old Joshua Davis, of
Cumming, was treated on scene for
minor cuts and abrasions,
Rodriguez said, before being
arrested for driving under the
influence, three counts of serious
injury by vehicle, driving on the
wrong side of the roadway and dis
tracted driving.
Rodriguez said additional charg
es may be filed to reflect the now
fatal incident.
A crash investigations unit with
the sheriff’s office and the Forsyth
County Fire Department responded
to the scene. Old Atlanta was shut
down for about 4.5 hours due to
the extent of the investigation, the
amount of fluid and debris on the
road and the time it took to sepa
rate the F-250 from the Bobcat and
trailer, which has “embedded in the
rear end.”
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