By Staff
Staff reports
Atmore Fire Department responded to a fire on 21st Avenue, outside the city limits, but it was in a losing battle as a barn, combine and hay owned by James Bell were all consumed by the flames.
"One of the employees was cleaning up," Fire Chief Gerry McGhee said Thursday, "it was generated by a trash fire." No one was injured.
The Atmore Fire Department responded to several fires earlier in the week, including two calls to I-65, according to McGhee.
The department responded to a call at 1:01 p.m. Sunday for a grass fire at Sowell Avenue and Trout Street, and then rolled again at 1:38 p.m. to help on a wreck at I-65. That accident sent six people to area hospitals.
A house at 297 Ashley St. was a total loss in a fire called in at 2:35 a.m. Monday. The home, owned by Willie Dailey, was unoccupied at the time the fire broke out.
LaToya Jones lives in the home, which is next door to her mother's house. Shirley Jones said the house is more than 40 years old. She was asleep at the time the fire broke out, and was alerted to the flames next door by a passing neighbor who called out to her. She said the flames were already coming out the front windows of the home by the time she called the fire department.
"I thank God for that," she said, talking about the fact that her daughter was away from the structure when it burned. The contents are a total loss.
"She lost everything," Jones said. "She will have to start over."
The younger Jones is staying with relatives.
Another structure fire Monday night at 731 Johnson St. devoured a mobile home owned by Elbert Johnson.
The Poarch Volunteer Fire Department called in the Atmore firefighters to help with a car fire at 6:20 a.m. Wednesday.
In related news, state fire marshal's investigations are still open in the cases of recent fires at Fryelink Used and New Tires and Harold Allen Mobile Homes. An open designation on the case indicates that the investigator is still gathering evidence on the fire.