Reidsville man loses home in fire as community rallies to help

TATTNALL COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - A man lost his house full of memories after a fire, leaving just a pile of debris. But his neighbors and community members say they’re coming together to help put the pieces back together.

Ciro Miranda moves carefully as an amputee living with serious health issues, often relying on others for help.

But what’s weighing on him most is what he can’t get back. The home he calls his world is now a pile of ash.

“He says that it’s his place, his world, his memories where he been here for so long and has so many memories and just see it fade away,” Miranda said through a neighbor who translated. Miranda speaks only Spanish.

Miranda described the moments just before sunrise Monday on Rodeo Drive. He said he was eating breakfast, getting ready for a doctor’s appointment, when his roommate suddenly yelled fire.

“I reached to my wheelchair as fast as I could. I grabbed it and got on there, and the guy came in and helped me and took me out as fast as he could. I got in my car and drove in reverse to get away from the fire,” Miranda said.

When Reidsville fire crews arrived at the mobile home, it was already about 80 percent engulfed.

But the Reidsville Fire Department said crews had to wait because of live wires until power was shut off before they could safely move in.

In a Facebook post, the department said Georgia Power took two hours and 24 minutes to arrive and complete the disconnect, calling the wait unacceptable.

When some asked why firefighters couldn’t cut it themselves, Reidsville Fire replied the power company doesn’t allow it for safety reasons.

Georgia Power said in a statement:

“Our hearts go out to this property owner and we are grateful for the work of the Reidsville Fire Department and other first responders. This was an intense and destructive fire in a rural area involving a customer-owned power pole. Our teams were onsite as quickly as possible to deenergize our equipment and make the area safe for responders to work.”

Georgia Power

Miranda said he believes the response, both the 911 call and the wait for power, felt slow. But he said in the end, the flames moved faster than anything else.

“He remember’s losing his wife, living here before she passed away and then after that just being here alone,” Miranda said through a translator.

He said even his wife’s ashes were inside.

But neighbors say he’s not facing this by himself.

“Everyone around here is like friends and family,” said Irene Ramirez, a neighbor.

Now that “family” of neighbors and community members is trying to rebuild the basics, starting a GoFundMe, planning fundraisers and collecting essentials.

“We’re trying to figure out if anybody is willing to donate, any kind of money or material to try and build him another house,” Ramirez said.

“It breaks my heart because that’s hard. Like, if you can’t work and you lost everything, I mean, what do you really got left you know. For everyone to try and help like that it’s really nice,” said Casey Arnold, a neighbor.