DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A new federal report reveals that a DeKalb County warehouse fire that killed a veteran firefighter in September involved an unpermitted film studio filled with highly flammable materials.
Preston Fant, a 21-year veteran firefighter, died on Sept. 8 while rescuing a colleague trapped inside the building.
The investigation found that the warehouse was last inspected in 2017 when it was operating as a car parts business. At the time of the fatal fire, the building was being used as an unlicensed movie studio that lacked essential safety features, including proper sprinklers and alarms.
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The investigation discovered the warehouse was filled with movie sets and props constructed from highly flammable materials, including Styrofoam.
Channel 2’s Michael Doudna went through the report and found the building lacked proper fire control for pyrotechnics, functioning sprinklers, alarms and an adequate water supply.
State Deputy Safety Fire Commissioner Tony Pritchett said these factors created an environment that was far more dangerous than a standard warehouse.
“You kind of have a lot of cards stacked against them from the beginning,” Pritchett said.
Pritchett noted that the presence of specialized filming materials changed how the blaze behaved compared to a typical structure fire.
“The fire behavior inside that building probably accelerated 100 times what it would with just regular combustibles,” Pritchett said.
Because the facility was not registered as a film studio, responding crews were unaware they were entering a high-risk environment.
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“It was unpermitted, unlicensed, of course, so therefore the local jurisdiction had no clue,” Pritchett said.
The fatal incident occurred after Fant and his team heard a mayday call from a colleague who had become stuck inside the burning structure. Pritchett described the rescue attempt as occurring under extreme duress.
“They literally went in during this mayday in some of the most intense conditions you could ever imagine in a fire situation,” Pritchett said.
While the team successfully pulled the distressed firefighter to safety, the report states that Fant became disoriented as he attempted to exit the building.
The federal report suggests several measures for DeKalb County to prevent similar tragedies, including more targeted inspections, increased staffing levels and additional training for fire personnel.
Efforts to reach the owners of the warehouse for comment via phone and email were unsuccessful.
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