| The Athens Fire Department started the 2009 year off with three fire calls. The first call was reported around 3:30 p.m. for a house fire in the Southern Hollow Road area. Bluestone Valley and East River assisted with this fire. The fire was confined to the attic space and nearly all the possessions within the home were saved. Athens then responded to a grass fire off of Route 20. This fire was extingueshed quickly and the firefighters returned to their quarters. Within 30 minutes of the grass fire, Athens was paged to the first fire location for a "rekindle". Firefighters arrived to find the home totally engulfed in flames. Oakvale assisted in this fire and it was brought under control around 6:00 a.m. "It was very frustrating to have a "rekindle" after we did such a great job on the knockdown and overhaul the first time." said Captain Derek Belcher. There was no determination as to why the fire rekindled. Two family pets were lost in the second blaze and another was missing. |