The fire that destroyed a building used for storage and maintenance activities at The Dillard House in Rabun County also threatened nearby structures.
“At 12:05 a.m. Wednesday, Rabun County Fire Stations 1, 5, 9, and 12 were dispatched to a report of a structure fire in the vicinity of The Dillard House in Dillard,” said Rabun County Assistant Fire Chief Justin Upchurch. “Flames could be seen from Hwy. 441 in Rabun Gap. First arriving units advised of a fully-involved two-story building with two major exposures.”
One of those exposures as a wing of the Dillard House motel and the other was Dillard City Hall.
“Crews made access into the end motel room and found fire at the rear door and extending into the ceiling and roof,” Upchurch said. “The fire in the motel room was quickly extinguished with minimal damage. Rabun County Station 6 and Otto Fire Department in North Carolina were requested for apparatus and manpower.”
The roof of the 6,000-square-foot concrete block building had completely burned through when firefighters arrived.
“It was deemed safer to request a ladder truck from Franklin, N.C., to get above the fire instead of placing firefighters within the unstable block walls,” Upchurch said.
Franklin Ladder 11 arrived and began flowing water.
The fire was brought under control and some responding units were released at 2:20 a.m. Ladder 11 remained on scene for another hour, then the last units returned to service at 4:08 a.m., Upchurch said.
“The Dillard House Restaurant did not sustain any damage during the fire,” Upchurch said.
Rabun County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating, and the cause is undetermined so far.
