A Buford man was hospitalized Saturday after being rescued from a house fire that he intentionally set, authorities said.
Deputies responded to the man’s home in the 3600 block of Friendship Farm Drive about 1:15 p.m. after receiving calls about a domestic dispute, the Hall County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
According to investigators, 48-year-old Jeffrey Howard Martin Bailey was involved in a physical altercation with a woman and a teenage girl before locking himself inside the house and setting it on fire.
Deputies entered the first floor of the burning home and called for Bailey, who didn’t respond, sheriff’s office spokesman Derreck Booth said. Officials removed some of the burning debris from the first floor but were unable to locate the man, who was the only person inside. The woman and the teen were outside when authorities arrived.
“It was quite an odd call,” Hall County fire spokesman Zach Brackett said Wednesday. “The smoke got worse and worse and changed color from a white, wispy smoke to a dark black smoke that was indicative of structural involvement.”
Firefighters entered the home, extinguished the blaze and located Bailey, who was found unconscious on the smoke-filled second floor, authorities said.
He was rushed to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Braselton and is expected to survive, according to police.
Following his release from the hospital, Bailey faces charges of battery under the state’s Family Violence Act and disorderly conduct, Booth said. He is also charged with one count of first-degree arson.
The case remains under investigation.
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