Electrical fire consumes Mountain City mobile home

A space heater plugged into a power strip left unattended caused a Mountain City mobile home to go up into flames late Tuesday morning.

Rabun County Fire Services responded at aproximentley 10:54 a.m. to a report of a structure fire on Queen Street in Mountain City. According to Assistant Fire Chief Justin Upchurch, the fire was reported by a neighbor who advised 911 that no one was home.

Station’s 1, 5, and 12 were dispatched and the first firefighter on scene advised of heavy fire coming from the end of the mobile home. Upon Engine 1’s arrival, a quick attack was made and the fire was brought under control rapidly.

The home sustained heavy fire damage to approximately half of it with smoke damage to the rest. As reported by the caller, no one was home at the time of the fire.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office was called in to determine the cause of the fire and the American Red Cross was called to assist the occupants.

After a thorough investigation was conducted, the fire was determined to be electrical in nature and caused due to a space heater that was plugged into a power strip.

Space heaters account for 43 percent of U.S. home heating fires and 85 percent of associated deaths, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

According to Upchurch, no electrical appliances should be plugged into a strip outlet if it draws a large amount of electricity such as a portable heater, air conditioning unit, fridge, or any other appliance similar in nature.