In a span of three hours, the Rockdale County Fire-Rescue responded to three separate calls related to structure fires last night, according to Rockdale Fire Chief Dan Morgan.

The fires occurred between the hours of 7 and 10 p.m. 

“Two of (the fires) involved light smoke in the houses but no fire,” said Morgan in an e-mail. “RCFR personnel investigated the homes using Thermal Imaging Cameras (TICs) to attempt to locate (any) hidden fire.  Nothing was found in either location.”

The third incident involved a fire at a two-story home. 

“We searched the home but later found that all occupants had vacated the building when the smoke detectors sounded,” said Morgan. “After attempts to extinguish the fire from inside the home, the aerial ladder truck was used to put the fire out from the exterior.  The home suffered major damage to the upper floor area.”

The causes of the fires are currently under investigation, but all three incidents occurred as a heavy thunderstorm with multiple lightning strikes was in the area, says Morgan.