Building behind Dillard House burns to the ground

DILLARD — Just after midnight, concerned motorists began calling dispatch advising that the Dillard House had caught fire, but in fact, it had been a storage building on the property that had been engulfed in flames.

Social media posts on Facebook ran rampant as rumors began to spread that the historical Dillard House had burned completely to the ground.

After confirming with local officials and from a first-hand eye-witness account, the rumors proved untrue, although, a maintenance building had indeed caught fire at around 12:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

The storage facility had been home to lawnmowers, chainsaws and other groundskeeping equipment according to multiple employees at the Dillard House – some of which were filled with gas which only fueled the fire worse according to Rabun County Assistant Fire Chief Justin Upchurch.

Multiple agencies assisted the Rabun County Fire Department such as the Franklin Fire Department from North Carolina, who brought along with them a ladder truck which was used to distinguish the structure fire with a hose from above the building.

Upchurch said because the building had been burnt down to the concrete foundation and nothing was left supporting the walls, a precautionary action was taken to ensure firefighters remained safe by remaining on the outside of the building only.

After a few hours of hard work, multiple departments were able to successfully extinguish the blaze.

Minimal fire damage was inflicted on the neighboring building, Dillard City Hall. However, two utility trucks located next to the incident site were inflicted with cosmetic damage such as melted headlights and burnt fenders.

Louise Dillard, owner of The Dillard House told WRBN/WGHC News in the early hours Wednesday morning how fortunate she was that everyone was safe and minimal damage was inflicted thanks to the work of the fire department.

“I am so incredibly thankful to have such wonderful firefighters and all of their volunteers who bravely fought this fire and prevented any further damage,” she said. “I don’t think the people of Rabun County understand how thankful we are to have them.”

An ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Rabun County Sheriff’s Department and the Georgia State Fire Marshal’s Office to determine what the cause of the fire was.