Dublin man dies in Tuesday house fire

A 72-year-old Dublin man was killed Tuesday in a house fire that officials believe started in the attic though the cause is undetermined. 

Michael Warren was pronounced dead from smoke inhalation around 3:15 p.m. by a Fairview Park Hospital emergency room doctor, said Laurens County Coroner Richard Stanley.

Dublin Fire Chief Matthew Cutler said investigators from the Georgia State Fire Marshal’s Office and DFD were at the scene Wednesday morning. 

A call was made to Laurens County 911 around 11:25 a.m. Tuesday from a person who reported that their neighbor’s house was on fire and they knew the man who lived there at 508 Cardinal Drive.

All of the DFD crews were at the new Northside Fire Station on North Jefferson Street around that time for a training session and were about to leave for lunch when they saw the smoke. Firefighters were preparing to respond when they received the 911 call. 

“Upon arrival we found a well-involved house fire and there was also a vehicle on fire in the yard,” Cutler said. “We had live power lines on the ground and that cut us off from one side of the house. We knew from the beginning from 911 that there was someone in the house.” 

Cutler said Warren made a call to 911 which continued to ping the phone to assist firefighters who were trying to find his location in the house. 

“We made a hard push to locate the victim,” the chief said. “It took 10 minutes just because of how far the fire had been developed before it was discovered. The smoke had already dropped to the floor, and the vision in there was zero. We were searching a fairly decent-sized house that we had never been in before and trying to find somebody in those conditions.”

Firefighters were able to locate and bring Warren out the back door, where he was put into an ambulance and transported to the hospital. Orange flames were easily visible, and there were explosions from propane cylinders and the vehicle that could be heard in the neighborhood as many neighbors watched from a safe distance. 

“Because the fire got into the attic so early, we ended up having a collapse of the roof which made it dangerous for us to be in there,” Cutler said. “Once we got the victim out, we’re going to do the best we can to get the fire put out. We transitioned to an exterior attack and ended up setting up the tower truck and deploying the aerial device to wet it from above and let the crews rehab. At some point we had to get back in there and do it by hand so we took shifts of people going in there, digging through and trying to get all of the hotspots out.” 

Cutler was concerned about the fire spreading. The first thing the fire department wants to do at any scene is find anyone who may be in a burning house.

“Once we had that addressed, we wanted to contain the fire and make sure it doesn’t spread to other properties or houses,” he said. “We knew that house was destroyed, but we didn’t want it to spread to someone else’s house and cause damage there.” 

Two firefighters were evaluated by EMS, and one of them needed further treatment. Some of the firefighters were dehydrated and some had heat exhaustion. Members of the Dublin Police Department, who helped blocked the road for the public’s safety and allow firefighters to work, and other members of the public brought water to the scene.

“We appreciated all of the help,” Cutler said. “I don’t know who brought drinks, it may have been neighbors, too, but we appreciate it.” 

The DFD cleared the scene after 4 p.m.  An official with the state fire marshal’s office, who was in town at the courthouse for an arson fire case that happened in June, heard about someone trapped in a fire and responded to the scene.

“Anytime we have a serious injury or fatality, we have to notify (the state fire marshal’s office) and they will send somebody,” Cutler said. “We don’t suspect anything suspicious in this case.” 

The chief offered his condolences to the Warren family and friends. 

“To lose possessions is one thing but to lose a family member is the worst,” Cutler said. “It is hard on the family, definitely, but it is hard on the crews. … I didn’t realize later until afterwards that he was actually the song leader at the church I grew up in in East Dublin.

“That was one of the most intense fires we’ve had in recent memory,” he added. “There were a lot of things working against us. It was a challenge. We gave (Warren) the best possible chance that we could. Definitely, our hearts go out to them.”