Fire destroys Barrow County towing service, one injury reported

The fire that destroyed a towing service in Winder burned for hours (Photo courtesy of BCES)

By Joe Johnson

A towing service in Winder was destroyed by fire on Tuesday, injuring one person.

The intense blaze that took firefighters several hours to control injured a person who had been in the shop owned by All County Towing at 326 Bert Day Road and destroyed numerous vehicles that were parked outside, according to Barrow County Emergency Services Capt. Scott Dakin.

Thick black plumes of smoke from a fire in Winder could be seen from miles away (Photo by Abigail Johnson/Classic City News)

Firefighters responded to the reported structure fire just before 6 p.m., he said, and when they arrived at the scene they found the towing service building fully engulfed in flames.

“Crews quickly started fighting the fire from the exterior of the building due to the amount of fire,” Dakin said. “This included aerial operations and several fire engines.”

The fire took several hours to control, and firefighters were on scene for several more hours completely extinguishing the fire and perform overhaul, according to Dakin.

“One person who was in the building at the time of the fire was treated and released on scene by medical personnel,” he said, and added, “The building and numerous vehicles around it were destroyed by the fire.”

numerous vehicles were destroyed by a fire that spread from a towing service building on Bert Day Road (Photo courtesy of BCES)

Dakin, the BCES public information officer, said that investigators from the county fire marshal’s office determined that the fire’s cause was accidental.