PERRY – A plume of smoke rose above downtown Perry Friday evening, drawing a crowd of onlookers and firefighters from all around.
Perry and Houston County fire crews quickly contained the blaze, which destroyed a building behind Builders Express, along the railroad tracks. The building was owned by Ila Thompson of Warner Robins.
Her husband, Charles Kirby, said “the building had mostly junk in it.”
Kirby said it was being used for storage. The tenant was supposed to have had his things out by Monday, Kirby said.
“He had motorcycles in there; he got those out,” he said. Interim Perry Fire Chief Earl Nelson said the fire was contained around 8 p.m. The first call went out at 6:53 p.m. There were no injuries, Nelson said. He said it was too early to tell what started the fire.
“It’s contained,” he said, “now it’s a matter of surround and drown.”
Responding units from Perry and Houston County included Engine 27, Ladder 1, and stations 11, 51, and 81 from Perry as well as county stations 11, 8, 5, and 41, and volunteers. The Air 1, the aerial ladder truck from the county’s Fire Station 7 was used to pour water on the fire from across the tracks.
Crews ran dual water lines from the hydrant in front of Tolleson Lumber offices. Firefighters were running hoses from hydrants all the way down Jernigan Street to Main Street. Georgia Power was called to the scene to take care of live downed power lines.
