Two children Charged for starting a fire which melted the siding off of more than a dozen town homes.
The fire started at around 2:30 p.m. at a town home community on the Oak Leaf Place in Cherokee County, which damaged 17 homes.
Channel 2’s Rikki Klaus went back to the neighborhood on Monday, where scorched grass remained in the Ridgemill Neighborhood in Acworth, along with the large gray tarps draped over many of the town homes.
Fire investigators said that the two boys, aged 10 and 11, confessed to using a lighter and also the lighter fluid to start the fire. The fire then got out of control, racing to the residents houses
Neighbor Christina Goss told to Klaus, "I just started tearing up, just seeing the devastation that this fire did to 17 houses is beyond. The feeling of it was just shocking."
Neighbor Louise Hoefler said that, "it is been pretty surreal."
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The vinyl siding at the Hoefler's house has been melted. A tarp which covers part of her home. She stayed with family for the past few nights, to avoid the smell and smoke.
“It has been really hard," Hoefler told Klaus.
She said that some of her neighbors have been displaced because of the incident. The firefighters had to carve a hole in one home.
"I feel terrible. It is a hardship," Hoefler said.
Goss told to Klaus that, "my heart goes out to all my neighbors, you know.”
The kids are charged as juveniles with the reckless conduct. Klaus asked the neighbors what they thought of the charges.
Goss said that, "maybe this will be a wake-up call.”
Hoefler said that, "they need to be held responsible for their actions."
The Cherokee County Fire spokesman Tim Cavender urged parents to talk with the children who are curious about fire.
Cavender said that, "we urge parents that during those times when they have questions to maybe sit down with them and maybe talk about some of the safety issues."
One of the neighbors told Klaus the HOA is filing a claim for the residents.
A fire investigator said that the damage totaled several hundred thousand dollars.
By Mrudula.
