About The Eatonton messenger. (Eatonton, Ga.) 18??-current | View Entire Issue (June 12, 2025)
A2 THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025 The Eatonton Aessenger www.msgrnews.com EPD earns certified police force status POLICE CONTRIBUTED During an Eatonton City Council meeting early last month, Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell accepted on behalf of his department a certificate recognizing Eatonton as a certified city under the Excellence in Policing (EIP) Program established and administered by the Georgia Municipal Association (GMA) and the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police (GACP). EIP certification is designed to help local police agencies to strengthen policies, reduce liabilities, improve operational efficiency, and enhance community trust. It also serves to reassure citizens of their police department's dedication to accountability, transparency, and best practices for public safety. Shown left to right are EPD Dispatcher Aaron Temples, City Councilmembers Chip Walker, Marie Rainey, Teresa Doster, and James Gorley, EPD Chief Howell Cardwell, Local Government Risk Management Services Public Safety Risk Consultant David Trotter, Eatonton Mayor John Reid, EPD Officer Blaze Waldroup, and City Councilmembers Janie Reid, Mylle Mangum, and Michael Smith. fir I Restore Habitat for Humanity of Putnam Co€00Ccalvee83300 SUMMER SALE ! • FURNITURE * OUTDOOR SETS • APPLIANCES • & MUCH MORE! HOURS: THUR-SAT: 10AM - 4PM ADDRESS: 866 HARMONY ROAD EATONTON, GA 31024 Shop. Donate. Volunteer. Follow us on lwww.facebook.com/EatontonMessenqer WE’RE HIRING!! Seeking compassionate and skilled Registered Nurses! X. We Offer: • # IF Friendly, professional, and supportive work environment Highly Dedicated Clinicians Competitive Pay Rate • Tuition Reimbursement -0 OFF ORIGINAL PRICE STOREWIDE DURING JUNE facebook PUTNAM GENERAL HOSPITAL INavicent lealthparmer FIRES CONTINUED FROM » A1 corner of their house,” McClain said. When fire fighters drove to the scene, they noticed “heavy smoke conditions throughout the home and fire showing on the outside of the side of the struc ture,” McClain said of the doublewide mobile home. “The city (Eatonton Fire Department) sent their tanker truck because there are no fire hydrants out there in that neighbor hood,” McClain said. Each of the county’s fire trucks carry 1,000 gallons of water, and the city’s tanker truck holds 3,000 gallons. “So, we were able to hook their 3,000 to our first arriving truck and ...crews went inside the home with hose lines, attacked the fire and were able to extinguish it and contain it to the room of origin,” McClain added. The door of another bedroom was closed next to the room that was burning, McClain noted. “Though the outside of that door was severely charred, everything inside that room barely had smoke damage,” he said. “So, temperatures in the hall were likely around 1,000 degrees or more, but inside that bedroom, it can stay around 100 degrees just by having the door closed. “That’s why we say you should always close your bedroom door at night when you go to bed,” he added; “because in a fire, it can make the difference between life and death.” The flames of the engulfed room burned completely through an exterior wall of that room, making the house unin habitable, according to the fire chief. The home- owners have family in the area they could stay with and they have fire insur ance, McClain said. The state fire marshal and Putnam County’s fire marshal ruled the fire was unintentional, but the cause is still under investigation. The other three fires happened on Thursday, June 5. Hillside Apartments A few minutes after 10 a.m., the city fire depart ment was called to Hill side Apartments on East Sumter Street. “When we got there, the apartment unit itself was filled with smoke, but we didn’t have any flames there,” Chief Williamson said. “So, we didn’t have to do any kind of evacuation of the whole building, thank goodness.” The residents in the apartment had been cooking in an air fryer that was sitting on top of their stove, and it over heated and burned up the air fryer, Williamson said. Because it was plugged into the elec trical outlet, the breaker automatically shut off. “So, we just vented the smoke out of the apartment and that was really all we had to do,” Williamson said. “It was kind of short and sweet on that one.” Hogan Boulevard At noon, city fire- fighters responded to a call on the 100 block of Hogan Boulevard where a single-wide mobile home was burning. Williamson said when they pulled up, they could see “a good bit of smoke” coming from all the windows and flames in one end. Two men lived in the trailer, but only one was home at the time of the fire and he was able to get out safely before firefighters arrived. The resident said he was in a different bedroom when he saw and smelled smoke, so he got out and called the homeowner, who called the fire department. A window air condi tioner unit plugged into an extension cord was the cause of the fire, Williamson said. “Something as big as an air conditioner unit should not be plugged up to a drop cord and this one here was plugged up to a drop cord and going to another receptacle somewhere in the room,” he explained. “The drop cord probably heated up because the air condi tioner was drawing so much power, so the cause was electrical.” He said firefighters and fire trucks with Putnam County assisted them in battling the blaze. Old Milledgeville Road As soon as the Hogan Boulevard fire was extin guished, Putnam County fire fighters were called to Old Milledgeville Road for a truck fire. According to a report by Putnam County Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Hudspeth, a Ram tow truck was carrying a Ford Transit Connect passenger van. The tow truck driver, Rodney Brown of Hercules Road side and Towing, said he owned both vehicles. Brown reportedly was towing the transit van back from a tire shop when he looked in his rearview mirror and noticed smoke coming from the front of the Ford. Brown said he pulled over and dropped the vehicle from his tow truck. “Brown was towing the Ford from the rear and placed the transmission in neutral,” Hudspeth wrote in his report. “The transmission became overheated and caused the vehicle fire.” McClain said both northbound lanes of U.S. Hwy. 441 were closed for a brief period of time while PCFD firefighters extinguished the fire. After it was extinguished, Brown hooked the van back onto the wrecker and towed it back to Covington. Comprehensive Benefits Package RN SIGN ON BONUS $15,000 Contact us today to join our team! © 706-923-2008 • www.putnamgeneral.com EATONTON HEALTH REHABILITATION 118 W. Marion St • Eatonton, Ga 706-485-8573 Visit: eatontonhealth.org Eatonton Health & Rehab is a Health Service of CHSGa
