Newspaper Page Text
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Waynesboro man killed in house fire
Three fatal fires,
four deaths in nine
months
By Elizabeth Billips
lizbillips@yahoo.com
A Waynesboro man died af
ter he was trapped inside a
burning home.
Firefighters found the body
of Andrew Lenair Sursson, 33,
early Sunday in the bedroom
of his Savannah Avenue home
near Rosemont Heights Bap
tist Church. According to
Waynesboro Assistant Fire
Chief Robert Parrish,
firefighters arrived to heavy
smoke and fire in the kitchen
and living room and had to
knock down the flames before
they could search the home.
Three other people, includ
ing a six-year-old boy, were
also trapped inside the brick
duplex but managed to break
a window and crawl to safety.
While preliminary autopsy
results had not been released
Tuesday, Burke County Coro
ner Susan Salemi believes
Sursson died of smoke inha
lation.
“It appeared that he tried to
get out of the house but was
overcome by smoke and be
came disoriented,” Salemi
One person died when this Savannah Avenue duplex burned early Sunday morning
said, noting he’d pulled the
curtains off the window before
getting back on his bed. "He
did not have any burns on
him.”
Chief Parrish said the fire
did not breach the other side
of the duplex, which was oc
cupied by another family.
While an official cause has
not yet been released, Georgia
Safety Fire Commissioner
Ralph Hudgens said unattended
cooking is probable.
Sursson’s family members,
who awoke inside the burning
house, told officials they be
lieved Sursson fell asleep
while he was cooking on the
stovetop.
While his death is the first
fire fatality in Waynesboro
since the early 1990s, Sursson
is the fourth Burke County
resident to die in a house fire
in less than nine months.
In late January, 65-year-old
Charles Atkins was killed in a
fire at a personal care home
just outside Waynesboro; and
in May, a Gough couple,
Eddie and Sarah Waltower, 62
and 60, perished inside their
Phillips Street home.
Salemi said the three most
recent deaths could have been
prevented.
“There were no smoke de
tectors in the homes,” she
said. “Smoke detectors would
have kept these people alive.
There’s no sense in it.”
First Baptist Church's new sanctuary should be completed next summer.
Out
Local
congregations
move forward
with expansions,
new church
buildings
By Roy F. Chalker Jr.
rchalker@bellsouth.net
Several local churches are on
the move. Waynesboro’s First
Baptist and the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints
(Mormon) are adding new fa
cilities to their existing locations,
while Rosemont Heights Baptist
Church has begun construction
on a new church campus on
Highway 25 north of
Waynesboro.
First Baptist, according to As
sociate Pastor Don Veldboom, is
building a new, 700-seat sanc
tuary at the corner of Liberty
and Stone streets. The steel frame
of the building is in place and is
an impressive sight to passersby.
The historic stained glass win
dows have been removed from
the old sanctuary building and
will be stored until their instal
lation in the new building,
Veldboom said. The new sanc
tuary building will include a
choir practice room and music
director’s office.
Veldboom said the old church
building, built in the late 1930s,
would eventually be demolished
and a new education building
would be built alongside the new
sanctuary. Lirst Baptist has been
accumulating property near their
present location for several years
after the church’s leadership
made the decision to stay put
rather than moving to a new lo
cation.
The new church, according to
Veldboom, should be ready for
services by next summer.
Rosemont Heights pastor Wes
Lawson told The True Citizen a
new multi-purpose building will
be constructed on the new site
which would serve as both a
sanctuary and education build
ing until some future date when
funding is secured for a new
sanctuary. The church’s current
campus, located on East Sixth
Street, will be offered for sale
after the relocation is complete.
Rosemont Baptist Church was
launched as a mission church by
Lirst Baptist in the early 1960s.
Lawson said that, coincidentally,
both Baptist churches are using
the same architectural and con
struction firms.
Luke Higgins, Bishop of the
Waynesboro Ward of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints anticipates the congrega
tion will move into their new
church complex in March 2014.
“Our existing chapel, which
holds about 140 people, is not
adequate to accommodate our
congregation,” he explained.
“The new building will be three
to four times larger and will seat
about two-hundred-and-fifty.”
The adjacent building will house
offices and classrooms.
Higgins said the church’s old
property had been swapped for
the new and he expects the old
buildings to be demolished.
GEARING UP FOR
GROWTH
Waynesboro manufacturer
doubles production capacity,
adds new product line
By Anne Marie Kyzer
annemariek@thetruecitizen.com
Steady growth in sales has Sam Dong Georgia searching
for local applicants to fill a number of jobs.
Contrary to trends in other industries, the specialized wire
manufacturer in Waynesboro recently completed an expan
sion and doubled its capacity, according to Controller Lrank
Thompson.
The plant’s production of copper winding material has been
increasing since the local facility was bought by South Ko
rea-based Sam Dong Co. in 2012, quickly becoming a lead
ing supplier for some of the largest power transformer manu
facturers in North and South America.
Thompson hopes sales forecasts in the coming weeks will
indicate a need for even more of their products next year.
“We are steadily growing,” Thompson said, noting general
manager Karl Schramboeck and he have aimed for controlled
growth. “We’re working with our sales team in Tennessee to
make sure we are not overloaded until all employees are
trained and up to speed. That is being shown in our customer
feedback. We have missed no shipment deadline and had no
product returns. We are very pleased.”
In anticipation of growth, the local plant has added more
than a half-dozen new lines for their current production pro
cesses and installed new technology to further increase ca
pacity. They’ve also completed installation of a new product
line, paper covered wire (PCW) that will allow Sam Dong to
expand its presence in the power industry.
Test runs are expected on the PCW lines later this month.
When full scale production of PCW begins, Sam Dong will
be able to supply its current customers with a different kind
of wire in addition to the winding material they’re already
shipping out.
Thompson said their biggest challenge now is to ensure
they have enough employees.
“We are pleased with the workforce ... we’d just like to get
a lot more,” Thompson said. “Right now, that’s our biggest
struggle ... finding enough employees to man the plant. I
can’t imagine anyone offering better benefits. We pay the
entire cost of the employee’s health plan and dental plan.”
Thompson said they will likely hire about a half dozen
workers immediately and anticipate a need for more early
next year.
NOW HIRING
WHERE ARE THE JOBS?
Sam Dong Georgia, located on the north end of Burke
Veterans Parkway
WHAT DO THEY MAKE?
Continuously transposed conductors (a copper winding
material) and will soon begin producing paper-coated wire
WHAT'S THE WORK LIKE?
The plant is a clean, temperature controlled environment,
where many of the processes are computerized. Opera
tions run nearly around the clock, and depending on the
job, would involve 8- or 12-hour shifts.
HOW DO I APPLY?
A job fair will be held at Hopkins Crossing (Walmart shop
ping center) this Saturday,10 a.m.-2 p.m. Applications
can also be picked up from the guard shack in front of
the plant. For more information, call human resources
manager Patti DeLaigle at 706-554-4457, ext. 223.
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PLANS FOR SPENDING
TAX DOLLARS
Commissioners have
settled on a spending plan
for the coming year. See
where your money is
headed.
PAGE 2
NOT FROM AROUND HERE?
Find out where Burke
County's newest residents are
moving from, why a few
made the switch and what
they like about their new
hometown.
PAGE 3
CITY COUNCIL HAS
QUESTIONS
Waynesboro's city council
members will have a chance to
dig deeper into the firing of
former Deputy Police Chief
Roosevelt Lodge.
PAGE 7