By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
Monday fire destroys Midway home
firecomfort
Neighbor Jemma Lester offer hugs to comfort Jacklyn Price. - photo by Phgoto by Patty Leon

PriceFire

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

“I was hanging my clothes and I heard the sound like something falling, and as I went to turn around the fire came across the clothes line and knocked me to the floor,” Midway resident Jacklyn Price said.Price, 54, recounted the horror of having part of her hair and eyebrows singed by the intense fire that consumed her small, wood-frame home Monday afternoon. “This man stopped and helped me away from the fire and then he called 911 while I ran toward my neighbor’s house screaming.” Price’s neighbor, Jemma Lester, said, “All I heard was her screaming and I came outside and saw one of the bedrooms on fire, then another room and by the time we called 911, the whole house was on fire.”Price shares her home at 13208 East Oglethorpe Hwy. with friend Benjamin Anderson, 60, who was at work when the fire broke out.According to initial reports from Midway Police Chief Jerry Ramos, the call came in at 1:03 p.m.“We had two units from Midway and one from Riceboro, and EMS personnel from Eastern District and Engine 13 was here within 10 minutes of the call,” Ramos said.Smoke could be seen a mile away and one of the westbound lanes of Oglethorpe Highway was blocked to give fire and rescue vehicles a lane to connect their hoses and begin extinguishing the fire. It took the fire department about an hour to squelch the blaze that left nothing but the home’s foundation.Trees alongside the house were also scorched and the flames came within a few feet of overhead power lines and within 10 feet of a 400-pound propane tank. No one was seriously injured but the intense heat did affect one of the firefighters who was treated for a heat-related illness.Midway Fire Chief Terrell Chipp worked with Liberty County Fire Coordinator James Ashdown to determine the cause of the fire.“We definitely have a point of origin being the rear bedroom, but there is not enough structure or evidence left to determine the actual cause,” Ashdown said. “The age of the house and the timber played a role in how quick it went up. Even the sheetrock was reduced to ashes due to the intense heat and there is nothing left of this house.”Disaster relief workers for the Liberty Branch of the American Red Cross provided Price and Anderson with food and clothing.“We lost everything. We have nothing left. I was even burned right out of my shoes,” an emotional Price said.She was treated at the scene while waiting for her daughter to arrive.“I can’t believe it. There is nothing left,” Jennifer Golden, Price’s daughter said. “Lord what will I do now,” Price said.Anyone who would like to assist Price and Anderson with donations is asked to call Golden at 884-4459. 
Sign up for our e-newsletters
Snow accumulation could be increasing
winter weather graphic

Southeast Georgia, including Liberty and Long counties, is under a winter storm warning from the National Weather Service.

The forecast for snowfall total has increased modestly overnight and freezing rain amounts are trending up along the coast.

Forecasters have high confidence that bitterly cold temperatures will impact southeast South Carolina and southeast Georgia this week. Near-record low temperatures are possible Wednesday night. Dangerous wind chills are possible, especially Wednesday night, with values as low as 8-15°F.

Precipitation is expected to arrive this afternoon or early evening, and accumulation of snow and freezing rain is expected. Snow could be from 1 to 2.5 inches, with locally higher amounts possible. An accumulation of close to a quarter-inch of ice is projected for mainly coastal counties.

The risk of additional freezing rain along the immediate coast Thursday night is now very low.

There are also could be travel issues into Wednesday night and Thursday as wet roads could refreeze.

Latest Obituaries