THOMSON, Ga. - A man and his girlfriend are now homeless after fire swept through their single-wide mobile home, just outside of Thomson on Wednesday night.
"I was just fixing to go to bed," said Rhonda Wallace, shivering in the cold night air as tears streamed down her face.
Her boyfriend, John Rogers, an employee of Steve Perdue Homebuilders of Thomson, said after he got home from work the couple ate supper and then visited Ms. Wallace's aunt nearby.
A neighbor reportedly saw flames and smoke coming from the couple's home shortly after 8 p.m.
More than a dozen firefighters with the McDuffie County Fire/Rescue Services responded to the fire at 1745 Nathan Rogers Road. After arriving, they found heavy flames and immediately began laying hose and hooking to nearby fire hydrants for water.
The fire caused extensive damages to the older mobile home, owned by Mr. Rogers' father, Ollie. The couple had lived there for the past four years.
"We've lost everything," lamented Mr. Rogers, while sitting on the rear bumper of a fire engine.
Mr. Rogers said he believes the fire may have started in a bedroom where a space heater was located and had accidentally been left on all day on Wednesday.
The actual cause of the blaze remains under investigation, according to McDuffie County Fire/Rescue Services Assistant Chief Stephen Sewell.
