Watch: Windy conditions fuel New Year's fire in Hall County

HALL COUNTY, Ga. - A Georgia high school football player is sharing his cautionary tale about the dangers of fireworks.

Seckinger High School head coach Toni Lotti and his wife Debbie were home and in bed early New Year’s Even when their security camera alerted them to a major problem going on just outside. 

"Well, our 2024 ended up in flames, literally," the coach wrote on his X account, posting a video of a line of fire spreading quickly across the grass in his yard.

An errant firework sparked a blaze that was quickly spreading. The couple had not yet gone to bed when they spotted the flames, which led them to go outside to try to put them out.

"This is what panic looks like," Coach Lotti wrote.

The breezy conditions that rang in the New Year across north Georgia helped to spread the fire quickly.

"I still can’t believe how fast the fire grew and spread. Burnt my whole back and side yard very quickly," the coach wrote.

The coach credits the Hall County Fire Department with their prompt response, especially given a new challenge. "My water hose wouldn’t work. Thank God for my neighbor answering his door when Debbie ran over to beat on it," he wrote.

He issued a warning to revelers who would want to set off fireworks. "PLEASE DONT USE FIREWORKS IN A NEIGHBORHOOD ESPECIALLY WHEN IT’S WINDY!!" he wrote in all caps.

The coach he is OK and said it was by divine intervention that his newly installed security cameras were able to prevent a much worse fire, one that could have left them homeless. "No doubt this was God’s protection," he said.

The wind was so bad overnight into New Year’s Day that the Oconee County Emergency Management Agency actually issued a civil bulletin warning residents not to set off fireworks on New Year’s Eve due to the number of fires reported there.