Staff Reports
The Moultrie Observer
MOULTRIE —
A mobile home was destroyed by a fire early Thursday morning that was believed to have been intentionally set.
The Moultrie Fire Department was called to 315 First St. N.W. at 2:17 a.m. Thursday about a house fire. Upon arrival, firefighters saw heavy flames coming from the house, but the two occupants, Dorthy Sampson, 50, and Bobby Bonner, 36, were outside the house.
Bonner stated he and Sampson were alerted to the fire by a smoke detector that had been installed by the Moultrie Fire Department. They escaped through a bedroom window because fire blocked both the front and back doors. Bonner had a laceration to his right wrist from the glass, and he was treated at the scene by Colquitt County EMS.
The fire ignited on the front porch, and Moultrie Fire Department Lt. Justin Cox said the house was a total loss. A Ford Explorer parked in front of the house had its windshield cracked and the grill was damaged by the fire.
It appears the fire was intentionally set, and the Moultrie Police Department is investigating. Samples of possible accelerant on the front porch were collected for testing.
Moultrie Fire Marshal Capt. Lavon Cooper said this was the first save from a department-installed detector in 2010. It is the 28th save since the detector program was started in 2002. The detector program is possible through a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is administered to the department by the Georgia Division of Public Health Injury Prevention Section.
