Update posted Feb. 27 at 12:43 PM:
The victim of the Wednesday afternoon fire in Murrayville has been identified as Daniel J. Sammons, 72.
The Hall County Sheriff’s Office said his body has been taken to the Dekalb County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.
Sammons’ family has been notified of his death.
Original story posted Feb. 27 at 9:49 AM:
One man is dead after a legal controlled burn on his northern Hall County property got out of control on Wednesday afternoon.
A witness told Hall County Fire Rescue that the property owner in the 6700 block of Claude Parks Road could not be found.
The first HCFR engine on the scene found roughly three acres of the property fully involved. HCFR personnel, with assistance from the Georgia Forestry Department, eventually extinguished the 20-foot high flames, and during their search, they found the body of an elderly male deceased at the scene.
The witness stated that the victim had started the fire to burn brush on his property legally and that the flames became uncontrollable.
The cause of death is currently under investigation by the Hall County Sheriff’s Office.
