Fire claims the life of Paulding County Air Force veteran

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. - A fast burning fire claimed the life of a 65-year-old Air Force Veteran in Paulding County Wednesday night.

Neighbors and friends described Al Patterson as a church-going man who was always ready to help others.

The State Fire Marshal’s Office said one problem they discovered was a large number of items which cluttered the home.

Hours after firefighters left, the house on Carolyn Path was still smoldering and burning.

Next door neighbor, Randy Birchfield, told FOX 5 News he rushed home when his wife called with deep concerns about their neighbor 65-year-old Al Patterson.

“It was Wednesday night, Al you know he was very religious and I was hoping and praying that he was at church but unfortunately he wasn’t he was in his house,” said Birchfield.

Paulding County’s Fire and Rescue said firefighters arrived in about six minutes to the fully involved home after getting the 911 call just after seven Wednesday night.

“The crews were not able to make entry because of the intensity of the fire. They did Rescue a dog on the front porch but that’s as far as into the house as they able to get,” said Lt. Steve Mapes with Paulding County Fire and Rescue.

Once firefighters entered they found Mr. Patterson dead. Per protocol, the State Fire Marshal’s Office was called in to determine the cause of the fatal fire which we are told was hampered by clutter in the home.

“It was not readily apparent that there was a fatality involved in the fire and a lot of that is because of the clutter in the home,” said Deputy Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner Jay Florence.

Investigators said they were still trying to determine the origin of the clutter in the home.

Next door neighbor Randy Birchfield said Patterson had recently closed a thrift store in Rockmart.

“He had a thrift store down in Rockmart. He was just tired of paying the rent. And he just began bringing it up, bringing it home and everything.” said Birchfield.

Friends of Patterson’s who gathered around his gutted home told Fox 5 News his store took up only part of his life.

H.F. McGarity said the retired Air Force veteran attended church regularly and sought to improve the lives of others.

“We’d always get together and talk about scripture and talk about how we can make a difference in the community to make things better for our youth and our neighborhood,” said McGarity.

Patterson’s body was sent to the GBI Crime Lab for an autopsy. The cause of the fatal fire has not been determined.

Friends of Patterson said he lived alone and had adult children in Hawaii and California.