DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — County and state investigators are currently examining the site to determine the cause of the fire at the Digital Thunderdome Studios warehouse on South Stone Mountain Lithonia Road.
The fire, which broke out Monday, injured Master Firefighter Preston Fant as he attempted to rescue a colleague. He died of his injuries at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Channel 2’s Candace McCowan reported live from the scene on Channel 2 Action News at 6:00.
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She’s seen no less than a dozen investigators in and around this warehouse Tuesday. They’ve been working since before the sun came up to find answers.
She also heard from witnesses about what happened during that fire, including the moments firefighters cut through a fence to access a second hydrant.
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“I got here at 6:30, and my coworker who gets here at 6 a.m. saw them out here,” witness Mackenzie Paradise said.
Tuesday DeKalb County and state fire marshal investigators could be seen covering the property where Fant was injured.
Investigators were taking pictures and walking in and outside the warehouse are working to determine a cause and the moments that led up to Fant becoming trapped while attempting to rescue a fellow firefighter, according to DeKalb County.
Witnesses shared what they saw Monday afternoon.
“Just flames and the fire,” said Paradise, who works nearby.
Another witness shared this video of the smoke and crews arriving.
Another video shows the smoke billowing from the building as one firefighter taps into a second hydrant at the property next door, then using a saw to cut through the fence so they can get another hose pumping water on the fire.
Paradise said there was a moment a wave of fire engines and ladder trucks arrived and she knew something was wrong.
“We didn’t know that it was a firefighter at first. We thought it was somebody else in the building,” Paradise said.
“They were pretty upset. We could see so that’s how we knew something was wrong because the firefighters were hugging on each other,” she said.
According to its website, Digital Thunderdome Studios says it “specializes in feature films and music videos.”
It’s not clear what, if anything, was being filmed there Monday when the fire started, but investigators are working get to the bottom of what went wrong.
Other businesses and warehouses along this roadway tell me they have yearly inspections from the fire marshal. Certainly that information will be part of the investigation.
The business started in 2019. It’s not clear when they began to occupy this building.
Others say it was previously an auto shop. Channel 2’s calls to the owner Tuesday were not returned.
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