A large fire quickly tore through a home in Oak Grove's Harrogate neighborhood and severely damaged another Friday afternoon.
No one was injured in the fire, which began sometime after noon at 1889 Bedfordshire Court, Batallion Chief Michael Lewis said. DeKalb County Fire & Rescue has not officially determined the cause or where in the home it started, he said.
"[The homeowner] was eating lunch, and his [fire] alarm went off," Lewis said. "He opened his garage door and smoke came at him."
The fire department received the call at 12:33 p.m. and arrived on scene five minutes later, he said. Tall flames had already hopped across the lawn and engulfed a neighboring home's attic, damaging it severely. Those homeowners, however, are out of town and no one was inside.
Fire crews were still extinguishing smoldering chunks of the garage, which caved in, at the first home an hour after they arrived. Two charred cars remained inside. Tall ladders led to shattered windows on the second home's second floor.
"I think the whole neighborhood is devastated by this," said Doris Gravy, 81, a Harrogate resident since 1996. "This is a very close neighborhood."
She said it was the first fire to strike the neighborhood since she moved in.