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By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

The quick work of the Peachtree City Fire/Rescue Department helped snuff out a fire before it wreaked havoc on a six-unit condominum building on Flat Creek Court Monday.

Firefighters responded to 214 Flat Creek Court in Flat Creek Villas just minutes after receiving a call for help at 2:19 p.m. and found smoke pouring from the second story and attic area of the unit. A total of 18 firefighters and four fire officers responded to the blaze.

“The house was unoccupied and it was being repainted,” PTC Assistant Fire Chief Ed Eiswerth said from his home Monday evening.

Firefighters evacuated three occupants from a unit next door and an older woman who lived in one of the rowhomes just a few doors down. Next, firefighters commenced to douse the flames.

“The crews did a real good stop on it,” Eiswerth said. “The main fire was knocked out really quickly, but it was hard to get all of the hotspots. The fire had burned for quite a while between the floors and the walls.”

Firefighters used their new thermal imaging cameras they received through a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to locate the hotspots in those hard to reach areas.

Fire crews remained at the home for roughly two hours for salvage and overhaul and to ensure the fire did not rekindle.

“Firefighters stopped the fire from getting into either apartment on either side of them,” Eiswerth said. “Ninety-five percent of the damage was kept to the apartment that was on fire. There was minimum damage to the adjacent units.”

No one was injured in the fire, officials said.

A water heater is believed to be the culprit in Monday’s fire, officials said. The fire caused extensive damage to the home owned by Michael Gassmann of Peachtree City.

“By all indications, it appears to be accidental,” Eiswerth said. “It appears to be around the water heater. That’s where the focus of our investigation is.”