CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga. — Two children have been arrested for starting a fire that melted the siding off of more than a dozen town homes.
The fire started around 2:30 p.m. at a town home community on Oak Leaf Place in Cherokee County and damaged 17 homes.
Channel 2’s Rikki Klaus went back to the neighborhood Monday, where scorched grass remained in the Ridgemill Neighborhood in Acworth, along with large gray tarps draped over many of the town homes.
Fire investigators say the two boys, ages 10 and 11, confessed to using a lighter and lighter fluid to start the fire. It then got out of control, racing to residents' houses
"I just started tearing up, just seeing the devastation that this fire did to 17 houses is beyond. The feeling of it was just shocking," neighbor Christina Goss told Klaus.
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"It's been pretty surreal," neighbor Louise Hoefler said.
The vinyl siding at Hoefler's house has been melted. A tarp covers part of her home. She stayed with family for the past few nights, to avoid the smell of smoke.
“It's been really hard," Hoefler told Klaus.
She said some of her neighbors have been displaced because of the incident. Firefighters had to carve a hole in one home.
"I feel terrible. It's a hardship," Hoefler said.
"My heart goes out to all my neighbors, you know," Goss told Klaus.
The kids are charged as juveniles with reckless conduct. Klaus asked neighbors what they thought of the charges.
"Maybe this will be a wake-up call," Goss said.
"They need to be held responsible for their actions," Hoefler said.
Cherokee County Fire spokesman Tim Cavender urged parents to talk with children who are curious about fire.
"We urge parents that during those times when they have questions to maybe sit down with them and maybe talk about some of the safety issues," Cavender said.
One neighbor told Klaus the HOA is filing a claim for the residents.
A fire investigator said the damage totaled several hundred thousand dollars.