By Liz Fabian
The Macon Telegraph
Copyright 2007 The Macon Telegraph
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
MONROE COUNTY, Ga. — Monroe County authorities are investigating whether a methamphetamine lab was involved in a fire in a converted pole barn off Pate Road.
Shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday, the Monroe County Fire Department arrived on Walton Way to find the two-story home on fire with heavy smoke showing from the attic and fire in the walls, said battallion chief Keith Hester.
Due to the possibility of a meth lab inside the structure, Hester called for the Macon-Bibb County Fire Department’s hazardous materials team to decontaminate firefighters on the scene.
Monroe County sheriff’s deputies and the department’s narcotics task force responded to the fire, but were not able to immediately confirm the presence of the lab due to the nature of the fire, according to a news release from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.
The fire and possible methamphetamine connection are still under investigation, said Hester, who declined to comment any further about the blaze.