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Posted on May 11th, 2008.
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By RNW Reporter Hayden Jennings
As heavy rains and storms cleared for a bright Mother’s Day, Mother Nature herself kept a smsll foothold on the day as high winds caused problems throughout the area.
Rome, which is under a wind advisory until midnight, was plagued by power outages caused by downed trees Sunday. Downed trees were reported at many locations including King Bee Circle, Silver Street, Huffaker Road, and W. Troutman Rd. In many cases, these trees took power lines down with them, causing at the least flickering of lights in homes around the county and outages in other places. Even with the excess rain Rome has had, two cases of downed power lines even sparked small grass fires.
The outages left emergency agencies spread thin, the police responded to burglar alarms tripped by winds or outages and the fire dept. responding to downed lines in addition to fire alarms. The outages spread GA Power Crews thin also, causing delayed responses due to their call volumes.
The biggest problem of all was the downed tree on W. Troutman Rd. which took a large power transmission line down with it. After Rome Fire Engine 9 located it after having trouble doing so, they discovered that they could not reach the scene where a grass fire had been sparked. Georgia Forestry was called to contain that fire though it spreading only at a small rate.
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Posted on May 11th, 2008.
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By RNW Reporter Hayden Jennings
A wreck on Rockmart Hwy. at Wax Rd. left two people with minor injuries.
The wreck occurred around 5:50 PM Saturday Evening. There were two reported injuries including a leg injury and another victim who was bleeding from the face. According to Rome Fire units, no extrication was necessary.
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Posted on May 10th, 2008.
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By RNW Reporter Hayden Jennings
A heavy burning fire burned a garage quickly causing a large column smoke at 213 Sunny Heights Dr. which is located of Wayside Rd.
The initial call around 3:20 PM Saturday stated that an empty garage was on fire and that it was located about 50 yards from a home. As Rome Fire Engine 4, Engine 9, and Car 25 rushed to scene, Engine 4 reported a large and heavy column of smoke was visible. Engine 4 arrived to find that the garage had already collapsed, taking energized power lines with it and endangering multiple structures around it.
Engine 1 was called in shortly after when it was found that due to the remote location, the nearest fire hydrant was on Wayside Rd. Units then laid hose and began shuttling water between the hydrant and scene.
Due to the violent nature of the fire, firefighters were not able to initially attack the garage fire as they went into defensive mode protecting structures in the area. The fire also prompted calls from nearby Dellinger Rd. when a propane tank exploded and sent a shockwave across the area and the heavy smoke prompted another concern.
As of 4:30 PM, Firefighters had gained control of the large fire and had also called the fire marshal in to investigate the cause of the fire which is yet unknown.
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Posted on May 10th, 2008.
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By RNW Reporter Hayden Jennings.
One victim was injured after a vehicle struck Rome Fire Quint 5 Saturday morning.
The wreck occurred at the intersection of Martha Berry Highway and Old Summerville Rd. in front of Mt. Berry Square Mall around 11:45 AM. Quint 5 was responding to a call on Old Summerville Rd. where a house was flooding. The truck was responding non-emergency to the call and was struck as it tried to turn onto Old Summerville Rd.
One victim was transported out of the car complaining of glass in their eye.
Quint 5 is stationed at the fire station on John Davenport Dr. A Quint truck is named due to its variety of 5 duties. While it does have a mounted ladder, it can be described as a cross between a ladder and pumper truck. The Rome Fire Dept.’s Fleet includes two of these type of engines.
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Posted on May 10th, 2008.
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By RNW Reporter Hayden Jennings
Police responded in force late Friday Night after a large fight broke out on Nixon Ave. at Hoke Park.
Police responded to reports of a fight near Anna K. Davie Elementary School around 9:00 PM. En Route, they were advised that one subject was down, having been beat up and that EMS was also responding. The first officer on the scene asked for units to upgrade their response, citing that there were 100 people there and some were still fighting.
Rome Police covered the area and were able to quell the disturbance by 9:30 PM. The victim was transported to Floyd ER where his condition was unknown. Police were also able to detain the main suspect in the beating around 9:30.
By RNW Reporter Hayden Jennings
Hwy. 101 wasn’t the only major roadway plagued by multiple wrecks Friday.
It seemed that one wreck led to another at Rome’s biggest problem intersection. Trouble started on Martha Berry Highway around 5:00 PM when a three car accident occurred just north of its intersection with GA Loop 1. This wreck, while causing no injuries, left several cars undrivable and in the middle of the roadway. This hindered southbound traffic and eventually led to their closing. Traffic was so suffocating in the area that the wreckers had to stage before Police could stop all traffic and allow them to reach the accident scene.
While this wreck was being investigated, another minor wreck occurred just east of the intersection on GA Loop 1. This wreck also left several cars undrivable and that heeded the same wrecker companies to be called. This second wreck was cleared first due to its better accessibility and the wreckers left that scene to go clear the scene of the three car wreck.
All in all, the wrecks hindered the already bad intersection for around an hour. This intersection has been rated the worst in the city for wrecks which has caused the city government to apply to post another red-light camera. Municipal governments must apply and be approved by the state Dept. of Transportation in the State of Georgia for the placement of enforced red-light cameras.
 The 4th Annual Sheriff’s Ride for Camp Goodtimes, and Car Show will be held this Saturday, May 10th at Ridge Ferry Park.
Registration for the Bike Ride will be from 9AM-10AM, with the first bike out at 10AM.
There is a $20 registration fee per bike, which includes registration for the bike show. The ride is approximately 70 miles.
Registration for the car and bike show will begin at 11AM, and will cost $20 per vehicle. Ballot counting will begin at 2PM.
In addition to People’s Choice Awards for the Top 10 in the Car Division AND the Bike Division, there will be a 50/50 drawing, door prizes and live bands. Southern Breed and Emersum Bigguns are scheduled to appear.
Camp Good Times is a three week summer day camp for physically mentally challenged youth of Floyd and surrounding counties. The camp is designed to help provide recreational, educational and social activities such as swimming, bowling, movies, crafts and self help skills.
For more information on Camp Good Times, please contact Tammy Bryant at (706) 234-0383.
The car show and bike ride are sponsored by the Floyd County Sheriff’s Office. For more information, please contact Deputy Jimmy Allred at (706) 236-2466, ext. 830.
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