Gas fireplace explodes, destroys deputy's house

HABERSHAM COUNTY, Ga. — A community is rallying behind a Hall County sheriff’s deputy who lost his new home to a fire.

Wes Pitzer and his wife closed on the new home in Habersham County in December and had just moved in.

"It's our first house and it's the first house we were looking forward to growing old in," he said. "It was our dream house. It really was."

He lit the pilot light Saturday in case they lost power in the cold, and when he went to light the gas logs, they exploded.

The entire house went up in flames.

"This fire ball came out of the fireplace from underneath it and knocked me backwards," Pitzer said.

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Firefighters battled the blaze for five hours, but Pitzer knew what the outcome would be.

"I've seen house fires before and I knew what was going to happen. I knew it was gone," he said.

Pitzer said losing his home and everything in it has been devastating.

"We both cry daily. Everything we owned was inside. All 45 years of both of our lives," he said.

Fellow deputies and neighbors are rallying around the couple, collecting money and household items.

"To have the community step forward and do it for me now, it's hard, it's just hard to explain," Pitzer said.

The deputy said looters have been inside his house to steal what little was left.

Pitzer said he's holding on to hope that their dream home will one day be livable again.

"We want to rebuild it and we want to rebuild it exactly how it was," he said.

The community started a GoFundMe page to help the deputy and his family get back on their feet.

Cox Media Group