Man hospitalized after Wrightsville church fire

A Johnson County man is recovering after he was found inside a burning church Friday.

WRIGHTSVILLE, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Johnson County man is recovering after he was found inside a burning church Friday.

Nathan Lambert, a 30-year-old man with special needs, was reported missing from his group home around 7 o’clock Friday morning.

A deacon found Lambert unconscious inside Pleasant Grove Baptist Church as it was burning.

Lambert was taken to a hospital and treated for smoke inhalation. 

Johnson County EMA Director and Fire Chief Shawn Wombles says crews got to the scene around 9:50. Wombles says the fire started in the fellowship area of the church and then moved to the sanctuary. 

About 100 firefighters were on the scene at one point.

“We’re in a rural area, so we don’t have a pressurized water system here,” Wombles said. “But our county is blessed with a lot of tanker trucks. We have 3,000 gallon tanker trucks, and at one point, we had every one of them from the city and the county here, as well as neighboring Laurens County had two trucks here, and we appreciate them coming over and helping with us.”

Crews closed lanes on U.S. Highway 319 South but all lanes are now back open.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.