DeKalb County and Alexandria Volunteer Firefighters were called to the home of James Anderson on Lower Helton Road Friday afternoon.
Assistant County Fire Chief Roy Merriman says the family was not at home when the fire started. He says a neighbor was on his back porch when he heard an explosion. Upon going to check, the man discovered a fire on the back wall and deck of the Anderson home.
Merriman says speculation is that Freon from a refrigerator on the deck may have ignited causing the explosion.
The neighbor called 911 and tried to keep the fire under control with a hose pipe until firefighters arrived.
Members of the Liberty, Temperance Hall, and Short Mountain Highway stations responded along with mutual aid support from the Alexandria Volunteer Fire Department.
Assistant Chief Merriman says the fire burned through the back wall and into the attic and one corner of the house received extensive damage, but most of the home’s contents were not damaged.
Members of the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department and DeKalb EMS were also on the scene.
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