On Thursday morning, firefighters with Gwinnett County and Hall County were dispatched at 6:54 a.m. Thursday, to a report of a house fire in the 3000 block of North Bogan Road NE in Buford, near the intersection of North Bogan Road and Thompson Mill Road. Due to the property’s proximity to the county line, units from both counties were dispatched to the scene.
Fire crews arrived on scene at 7 a.m. and reported heavy smoke and fire coming from a two-story home with a basement. While completing a survey of the property and fire, firefighters noticed a man in the woods behind the home. The man informed the firefighters that the home was vacant.
Multiple firehoses were deployed to combat the flames, which were heaviest on the second floor and attic. Search crews were able to verify what the man in the woods said about no one being inside the home at the time of the fire.
Fire crews encountered the man in the woods again while working to extinguish the fire. This time, they observed the man with a shotgun. Gwinnett police, who were on the scene, set up a protective perimeter around the fire operations.
“It is important to note that the man never threatened first responders on the scene, interfered with operations, or pointed the shotgun at fire personnel,” Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services said in a released statement.
Firefighters were able to get the bulk of the fire under control at 7:26 a.m. They switched to addressing smoldering hot spots, ventilating the home and conducting air quality monitoring.
As firefighters were wrapping up operations at the home, police were notified by a neighbor of a deceased male on a nearby property. Gwinnett County police officers determined that the deceased male was the same man that firefighters had noticed in the woods holding a shotgun. Officers said that it appeared that the male had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office was called to the scene to determine the cause of death.
No other injuries were reported at the scene.
Fire investigators are investigating the cause of the fire, and the deceased man was known to occupy the home.
Gwinnett County Fire and Emergency Services responded to the scene with four fire engines, one ladder truck, one squad, three med units, two command staff vehicles, one air and light unit, six fire investigators and one PIO.
