An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was at the scene of a house fire on Bolton Road in Atlanta Wednesday morning, officials confirmed.
It’s unclear why the official was at the one-story, wood-frame house, which caught fire shortly after 7 a.m., said officials with the Atlanta Fire Department and the Atlanta Field Division of the ATF.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
“In case it was suspected arson, he would have gone out to assist with the local and the state fire investigator,” said Richard Coes, spokesman for ATF’s Atlanta office.
The vacant, boarded-up home, was completely destroyed by the fire, Atlanta Fire Capt. Joylon Bundridge said.
Bundridge said the homeowner has not been in contact with Atlanta fire authorities.
Federal agents may be looking for that person, however, according to Channel 2 Action News.
The homeowner apparently is the subject of an ATF arson investigation, Channel 2 Action news is reporting.
Coes said he didn’t know if the homeowner had been located.
The house fire left a huge plume of smoke hanging over the west side of town during the morning commute.
At one point, the entire top of the structure was ablaze, and flames were still shooting from portions of the roof at 8:30 a.m. Shortly thereafter, crews had the fire under control.
Lawrence Adkins, who works two doors down from the burning home, said he was already at work when he “actually smelled stuff first, and was like, ‘where is that coming from?’”
Adkins told the AJC that when he first looked out at the house, he saw billowing smoke but “it didn’t look bad.”
He said he called 911, and shortly after firefighters arrived, “the house just went up, and it went up like a torch.”
Adkins said that that while the home’s owner hadn’t lived there in several years, they had seen him recently mowing and cleaning up the yard.
“The house was neat and clean,” Adkins said. “He had stuff in order.”
Staff photographer John Spink contributed to this article.
About the Author
