On June 17, 2025, at about 11 AM. a devastating fire occurred at the home of a Senoia couple on Marcie Court, a part of the Morningside subdivision.  The official cause of the fire is not yet released, but it was entirely spontaneous.  Both residents were home at the time and made it out of the house alive and unharmed- but their house was already engulfed in flames.  The fire department arrived within five minutes, but when they began to turn on the water, there was no pressure in the hose.  Laura Harbin, a next-door neighbor whose house was most at risk of catching fire should the blaze spread, recalls the harrowing experience.    After being called out of work, Laura was given just a few minutes to go into her house and figure out a few important items to salvage in case the worst happened.  Laura praised the fire department’s exceptionally prompt response and courage during the incident.  “I want to thank the firefighters.  Human beings- I don’t even know, male or female- are standing between my house and a burning blaze.”  The couple have declined to comment for the newspaper at this time, but they are beloved by their neighbors- Laura notes that they are “like grandparents” to her children- who expressed relief that both made it out of the burning building safely.  

The main concern at the city council meeting on July 7 was the fire hydrant valve.  There was no water pressure when the firefighters attempted to use the hydrant, which is many citizens are concerned may be a failure on the part of the government.  “Why was this discovered in a crisis?”  Laura asks, noting that while it could be happening where she doesn’t see it, she never sees the fire hydrants being checked.  “I’m not here to find blame.  I’m here to find answers,” Chad Wallace, a local resident, assured the council.  Ten different speakers got up to discuss the matter of the fire hydrant.  Some residents questioned whether this meant they needed to start stocking up on water, or whether they could truly trust in their fire hydrant systems any more to provide aid in case of an emergency.   Wallace shared that the incident led to him choosing not to put on a fireworks display for the Fourth of July out of concerns that emergency services would be unable to use the fire hydrant should the worst happen.  Another speaker suggested forming a Volunteer Fire Department to provide supplementary aid in such situations.Mayor Dub Pearman and City Manager Simmons both assured the speakers that fire hydrants are checked every five years (leading some citizens to wonder “is that often enough?”) and that what happened with the water pressure inside the hydrant was a result of circumstance, not of government mismanagement.  “My heart goes out to the family.  However, some things we have no control over,” Simmons told The Citizen, noting that the house was already fully engulfed in the fast-growing flames even before the firefighters’ prompt arrival.   He states that the hydrants receive a regular pressure check, and as the valves are underground, the valves are only checked if something goes wrong in the pressure check.  He also states that since the incident all the fire hydrants in the subdivision have been inspected, and that there is a schedule for future fire hydrant inspections citywide this year.