LATEST NEWS

A Habersham County man had to be rescued by ladder from his burning home early Sunday morning.

At 4:48am Sunday, April 21, Habersham County E-911 received a call of a residential fire at 304 Skyview Circle in the western part of Habersham County. The caller stated his house was on fire and that he was stuck on the porch and couldn’t get off due to it being a 30-foot drop. Habersham County A shift units Engine 16, Engine 13, Med 16, Med 21, Battalion 1, Captain 1, and Tankers 13 and 17 responded without delay. While en route, mutual aid was requested from White County Fire Services due to the nature of the call and the limited access to water in that community. At 4:58am, Habersham Med 16 arrived on the scene to find a two-story residential structure that was roughly 75% engulfed in fire and advised they were going to be operating in rescue mode. Engine 16 arrived on the scene at 5 a.m. and crews split duties to start fire attack and rescue at the same time. At 5:05am, the victim was removed from the porch from a ground ladder that Med 16 crew had placed for removal. He was taken to the waiting med unit for evaluation and later refused any further care due to not being injured. After victim removal, all units went to fire attack after the arrival of additional water and crews from mutual aid requests. Crews remained on the scene until 10am assisting the state fire marshal with his investigation, which is ongoing. There were no injuries reported from crews on scene and the occupant that was home at the time. Habersham County Emergency Services would like to thank Habersham County E-911 and White County Fire Services for their assistance in this call. Unit used approximately 13,000 gallons of water to extinguish the fire.

The runway at the Habersham County Airport near Baldwin will be closed for three weeks beginning Monday, April 29. The closure will allow crews to perform much-needed resurfacing of the runway. The closure will be in effect from April 29 to May 19. For more information, contact the Habersham County Airport FBO at 706-839-0247.

Summer in Northeast Georgia is a great time for camping, attending a fun festival or planning a day trip for hiking or biking. If you have a photograph that represents this beautiful time of year, it could be featured on the cover of The Mountain Traveler’s summer 2024 edition.

What a spring it has been for sports in Habersham County’s two high schools. In an unprecedented slate of success, all four varsity soccer teams from Habersham Central and Tallulah Falls won…

A new four-way stop is active at the intersection of Level Grove Road and J Warren Road outside Cornelia. “We urge drivers to use extreme caution when traveling in that area as it may take people who have driven Level Grove Road for years a little time to become accustomed to the new stop requirements,” said Habersham County Public Works Director/Special Projects Manager Jerry Baggett. The intersection was included in a recent Safety Action Plan grant awarded by the Georgia Department of Transportation and resulted in the intersection being changed to a four-way stop. Previously, the intersection allowed free flow of traffic on Level Grove Road while requiring entering and crossing traffic from J Warren Road to stop. From Oct. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2023, 14 people were injured in collisions at the intersection, crash data from the state reporting system shows. Records show that 23 of the 27 wrecks at that location were angle collisions, one was head-on, two were rear-end, and one was with a fixed object. A thorough review of crash data and field observations of the intersection resulted in the recommendation by engineers to install rumble strips ahead of a four-way stop at the intersection. On Level Grove Road, a flashing red stop sign has been installed in each direction, as well as associated striping and stop bars. Rumble strip installation on Level Grove Road is forthcoming. The Habersham County Sheriff’s Office is helping monitor the intersection when possible, to ensure drivers on Level Grove Road are stopping. Habersham County awarded the contract for intersection improvements to Peek Pavement Marking Inc. Traffic Operations Change signs have been in place since the project was announced to allow drivers advance notice of the planned intersection change to a four-way stop. The intersection is approximately 2,700 feet west of the Ga. 365 ramps on Level Grove Road. Level Grove Elementary School’s eastern driveway is roughly 975 feet west of the intersection.