Dillard House safe; storage building not so lucky

Article by Rob Moore, AccessWDUN

Photos by Cindy Centofanti, WRBN/WGHC

Early reports of a fire at the famed Dillard House Restaurant in Rabun had many concerned the legendary eatery was no more. Those worries were soon allayed as official word came the fire was in another building on the property used for storage and maintenance activities.

The fire that destroyed the building did threaten nearby structures, however.

Rabun County Assistant Fire Chief Justin Upchurch said the call came in at 12:05 a.m. Wednesday and Rabun County Fire Stations 1, 5, 9, and 12 were dispatched to a report of a structure fire in the vicinity of The Dillard House. Upchurch said flames could be seen from Hwy. 441 in Rabun Gap and first arriving units advised of a fully-involved two-story building with two major exposures.

One of those exposures was a wing of the Dillard House motel and the other was Dillard City Hall.

Upchurch said crews made access into the end motel room and found fire at the rear door and extending into the ceiling and roof. The fire in the motel room was quickly extinguished with minimal damage.

Rabun County Station 6 and Otto Fire Department in North Carolina were also requested for apparatus and manpower.

The roof of the 6,000-square-foot concrete block building had completely burned through when firefighters arrived. Upchurch said it was deemed safer to request a ladder truck from Franklin, North Carolina to get above the fire instead of placing firefighters within the unstable block walls. Franklin Ladder 11 arrived and began flowing water.

The fire was brought under control and some responding units were released at 2:20 a.m. Ladder 11 remained on scene for another hour, then the last units returned to service at 4:08 a.m.

The Dillard House Restaurant did not sustain any damage during the fire.

Rabun County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia State Fire Marshal’s Office are investigating and the cause remains undetermined so far.