Old Effingham home destroyed by fire

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By Lynda Figueredo - bio | email

EFFINGHAM COUNTY, GA (WTOC) - An old home with much history was destroyed by flames Friday night.

The house was located near Courthouse Road and Georgia Highway 17 in Effingham County.

L.R. Hinely was one of the first tankers to arrive on the scene when this house went up in flames late Friday night.

"It was a hot fire, when I arrived there," said Hinely.

The home sits just off Highway 17 near Courthouse Road in Effingham County.

While no one has lived in the home for quite some time, this old house still brings back many memories for Hinely.

"When I was a small child the man that owned this house here owned one of the first tractors that worked for farming in this area," said Hinely. "He would cut land for people that didn't have tractors - and that was back in the 40's. He had a steel wheel tractor, it didn't have any rubber on it."

He says the man that became popular for owning the first tractor in the area was named was Bunyan Fetzer.

"Everybody else around here only had mules to plow their fields with and he had that tractor and he could do wonderful work with that in the field, and he was a lot faster than you were with a mule," said Hinely.

Hinely was born in the 1930's, and as far back as he can remember, the home has been standing.

That is why it pains him to see it destroyed by fire.

"Because of the history of it," said Hinely. "It was one of those older houses. It is just rough to see one go."

The home was originally built with a metal roof and pine wood boards on the side, a structure Hinely says is quick to catch fire, but a few years back the owners put up some siding. That did not prevent Friday night's fire from destroying a piece of Effingham's past.

"It's an old landmark and it is gone," said Hinely.

There has been no word yet on what sparked the blaze.