HIAWASSEE – Hawks Harbor Condos on US 76 was the site of the county’s first structure fire of 2025, and Towns County Fire & Rescue responded quickly to knock down the flames.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire.
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E-911 Dispatch toned the emergency out at 9:52 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 3, and multiple career and volunteer firefighters arrived shortly thereafter. They evacuated the building and had the Blue Ridge Mountain EMC cut the power to the smoking building as they worked to address the fire.
The condo buildings are three stories tall, including basement garages and separate living quarters on the second and third floors. The fire broke out in the gas-log fireplace of a second-floor condo, moving into the walls of the building to impact the condo above it.
Firefighters tore out the wall around the ignition source rock fireplace to apply water to the fire. Fire Chief Harold Copeland went to the condo above and heard crackling near the corresponding fireplace; he peered into an electrical outlet there and could see fire behind the wall.
“We had a line on the main floor where the origin was, and we brought another line into the third floor and started doing the same thing internally,” Copeland said.
While that was happening, firefighters had positioned the department’s ladder truck on the highway and were extending a ladder to the roof to access the attic to make sure flames weren’t spreading among the rafters.
“We cut about an 18-by-18 hole in the roof to give it a little air and make sure that we didn’t have extensions into that area, and everything turned out good,” Copeland said. “We went ahead and got people back in their homes and called the EMC to turn the power back on.”
Two condos were damaged in the blaze, and Chief Copeland commended the owner of the complex for working in earnest to restore the properties immediately following the fire.
An elderly woman was displaced from her condo due to water damage, but the Fire Department contacted the American Red Cross to find her safe lodgings.
At press time, Chief Copeland said they were still investigating the exact cause of the unintentional fire, whether it was a propane line leak or wear and tear in the chimney chase.
Responding to the scene were crews with Engine 1, Tanker 1, Engine 3 and Ladder 6. The Towns County Sheriff’s Office worked traffic on US 76 to support the ladder truck, and the Clay County Fire Department provided mutual assistance out of North Carolina.
“All in all, at the end of the day, nobody was hurt,” Copeland said. “All the equipment worked flawlessly, the crews worked flawlessly, and I couldn’t be more proud as a fire chief.”
Chief Copeland advises people to be particularly cautious this time of year, when home heating during the cold winter months increases the chances of house fires. Residents should make sure to check that their smoke alarms are functioning properly.
“This has been a very active fire season so far for us,” Copeland said. “We’ve had at least half a dozen structure fires already since Nov. 1. I’m not sure what’s going on; it’s looking like it’s just going to be one of those years.”
The timing of an active fire season is coinciding with upgrades coming to Towns County Fire, including a brand-new, SPLOST-funded 2,000-gallon pumper tanker, plus the hiring of three new full-time firefighters to provide 24/7 manned station coverage for the first time in county history.
