A raging fire nearly destroyed two homes and badly damaged a third in Clayton County overnight, displacing 14 people, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

One of the three homes along Sleepy Hollow Lane in unincorporated Jonesboro caught on fire around midnight, and the blaze moved to a second home before charring the outside of a third, Channel 2 Action News reported.

Channel 2 Action News obtained cellphone video of the massive fire that destroyed two homes and damaged a third in Clayton County.

Credit: Channel 2 Action News

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Credit: Channel 2 Action News

“On a scale of 1 to 10, this is a 10,” Bernie Wasserman of the Red Cross told Channel 2. “It’s a nightmare.”

Wasserman said some of the residents, including three children, likely had all of their belongings destroyed aside from what they were wearing to bed. He said most importantly, though, no one was hurt.

The Red Cross said it has helped find motel rooms for some of the people displaced, while others are staying with relatives.

The Clayton County Fire Department hasn’t determined the cause of the fire. It remains under investigation.

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Cuthbert is the county seat of Randolph County, one of 94 Georgia counties that registered more deaths than births in 2024. The county's hospital closed in 2020, leaving longtime state Rep. Gerald Greene to drivce himself 46 miles to Albany while suffering from a kidney stone recently. (Hyosub Shin/AJC)

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