Fire Guts Forsyth Residential Workshop

Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire that destroyed a two-story hobby workshop in central eastern Forsyth County Thursday morning.

Division Chief Jason Shivers of the Forsyth County Fire Department said the structure was about 2,000 square feet and was located behind the owner's house at 2705 Samples Road, near Buford Dam Road, in a residential community.

"It [workshop] did have vehicles in it and some entertainment capabilities, but a nice structure for the homeowner to do his automotive hobby in," he said.

Firefighters responded to the fully engulfed workshop around 10:46 a.m. and 20 minutes later had extinguished the fire. But Shivers said they remained on the scene for more than three hours to ensure all the hot spots were out in the building.

"The fire was fed because of that heavy fire load in the building, again there were vehicles in there, along with different things you would expect to find in an automotive shop," Shivers said. "Paints and chemicals and that kind of thing."

Authorities received numerous 911 calls regarding the blaze and the subsequent plume of smoke that could be seen as far away as downtown Cumming.

Shivers said there were reports by 911 callers that they heard several explosions, which is to be expected when there are items like paint cans, any kind of compressed canisters, tires, and automotive shock absorbers in or near a fire.

"The homeowners residence was only very, very minorly affective by the fire," he said. "There was virtually no damage to it, but again unfortunately his hobby shop is going to be a total loss."

There were no injuries to civilians or firefighters Shivers said. Samples Road was closed during the fire and cleanup, but has since been reopened in both directions.

The fire remains under investigation.