Barrow County Fire authorities have extinguished a fire Monday afternoon in Bethlehem that left one person dead. Fox5 News identifies the victim as Duane Downey, 73. Relatives of Downey said he was a two-time recipients of both the Purple Heart and Bronze Star medals for service as an US Army Ranger in Vietnam.
Capt. Scott Dakin said the the fire spread quickly.
"We train and try hard to rescue, and unfortunately in this situation, we weren't able to. But I have to give credit to the guys, they did a great job doing everything they could," said Dakin. "Including, when we did remove the body, we took the time to do some military honors with him."
No one else lived at the home, and Dakin said no one else was in the home when the fire occurred.
Dakin said their investigation team determined the fire started in the kitchen area, around the stove "with the possibility of the stove part of the cause," Dakin added, "so at this point, there is no suspicious activity, so we have stopped the investigation until we have insurance companies and everybody involved."
Crews were called to the scene around 5 a.m. after 911 calls to a fire in the 300 block of Lokey's Ridge Road. Dakin said when crews arrived, they found a residence that was heavily involved in fire.
"Crews tried to make entry but they were blown back by the flames, which put us into a defensive mode," Dakin said.
Dakin said as of 3:30 p.m., the fire was completely out and they had cleared the scene.
