UPDATE: Georgia Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner Ralph Hudgens has released the names of the Rabun County homeowners whose residence was destroyed by fire Sunday morning, claiming two lives.
In a statement Sunday night, Hudgens said investigators believe Joseph Kneer, 71, and his wife Phyllis Kneer, 77, died in the fire. Their bodies have been sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation State Crime Lab for an autopsy and identification.
"About 7:30 this morning, Stations 3, 1, 10 and Truck 12 were dispatched initially to an explosion" in the area of 2594 Blue Ridge Gap, said Rabun County Assistant Fire Chief Justin Upchurch. "After going en route, Dispatch advised that other callers were advising it was a house fire."
When firefighters arrived, they found heavy fire conditions in the single-story structure on a full basement at 3026 Blue Ridge Gap, Clayton.
"Actually the walls were already falling into the basement," Upchurch said. "The roof and walls were already collapsing into the basement, so they had heavy fire. It was a large fire load. Multiple cars were on fire, as well as a box van that was full of all kinds of stuff. It had motors and generators."
Upchurch said the homeowner apparently worked on those items, so there was a quantity of those as well as tools accumulated.
"His whole garage was filled with acetylene torches and propane containers," Upchurch said. "We had four of the small propane bottles in the back that were all venting at the same time."
Because of the magnitude of the fire and the severity of the damage, firefighters had to seek out neighbors to determine the home's occupancy at the time.
"We did confirm, talking to the neighbors, that all the vehicles for the residence were there, and we notified our fire marshal as well as the state fire marshal and law enforcement and they came," Upchurch said. "Ultimately, we were able to find both bodies covered up in debris. We actually had to get the road department to come in with a small excavator to remove some of the large machine equipment and stuff he had in his basement."
Firefighters had to shuttle water from a pond on Dolly Dixon Lane because there are no water sources in the area of the fire. Personnel from Rabun County Station 5 also responded.
Upchurch said there is very little left of the house, which was located across from The Farmhouse Restaurant, adding 25-30 personnel were involved in the firefighting effort.
"It's an unknown cause of origin, unknown if what was heard initially was maybe the propane tanks popping," Upchurch said. "We're unsure about that, what the initial explosion was. It doesn't appear that the house exploded, because everything was inside, There wasn't like debris from explosion of the house."
The fire appears to have started in the kitchen area of the home, according to Hudgens.
The fire remains under investigation by Rabun County Fire Marshal Scott Crane, the Georgia State Fire Marshal's Office, Rabun County Sheriff's Office and Rabun County Coroner's Office, Upchurch said.
This is the second Sunday in a row Rabun County firefighters have responded to a fatal house fire.
Last Sunday, one person died and another was burned in a house fire on Bridge Creek Road in Tiger.
