Authorities: Mill Still Dangerous

The fire at the Cotton Mill in Douglasville is still active with visible flames in hot spots throughout the mill property. One area, thought to be the original boiler room, is still producing a lot of smoke that continues to drift northward across Bankhead Highway/US 78 causing visibility problems. 

The Douglas County Fire/EMS Department is keeping an active truck at the fire scene 24 hours until the fire is out. The is monitoring the smoke levels, and will close Bankhead Highway if necessary to ensure driver safety.

Some people have crossed the taped/declared fire line to enter the property, take photographs, and to take bricks and other structural mementos. This is extremely dangerous and illegal. The remaining walls and floor structures of the Mill are extremely unstable and could collapse at any time, and visitors to the area are requested to not place their lives-and the lives of first responders-at risk by entering the property.

Fire Investigators from the Douglas County Fire/EMS Department have visited the site for cursory perimeter inspections but the property is still to dangerous to enter to begin the fire source investigation.