SOCIAL CIRCLE, Ga. — State investigators working with the Social Circle Fire Department have determined that a fire at the old Social Circle Cotton Mills on Sunday was intentionally set, an area newspaper reported. 

Meanwhile, Social Circle's fire chief said his department was still trying to extinguish the remains of a fire today that damaged an old mill building in Social Circle Sunday afternoon.

Chief Ken Zaydel of the Social Circle Fire Department said he still had units on the scene this morning.

"We still have fire burning in a few spots that we cannot reach due to the condition of the building," Zaydel told The Covington News.

He said the fire was reported around 1:50 p.m. at the former mill building near the corner of Cannon Drive and South Cherokee Road.

Crews from Walton and Newton counties aided his department, he told an Atlanta TV station. 

He said no Social Circle firefighters entered the building.

"Due to the building's condition we did not put personnel inside the building to fight the fire," Zaydel said. 

The building formerly burned in 1994. Chemicals, including PCBs, at the site have required government intervention in the past, the Tribune reported.

However, Zaydel told The Covington News the chemicals had already been removed "many years ago."

The Walton Tribune reported a cotton mill was located at the site from 1901 to 1982, according to a government report. It employed 225 people at its peak, making large cotton blend sheets, the Tribune reported.

Carter Jackson Inc. of Augusta owns the 3.84-acre site.

Anyone with information may contact Social Circle police or the state fire marshal's office at 800-282-5804.