DALTON, Ga. -- The Dalton Fire Department has determined that a fatal apartment fire last year was human-caused and didn't start from a natural gas explosion.
But an attorney for the family of the mother and son who died in the blaze contends that old gas lines likely played a role in the fire.
The fire occurred on Aug. 22, 2009, at 410 Underwood Circle in apartments managed by the Dalton Housing Authority. Martha Sue Nations, 56, and her son, Jeffrey Nations, 34, later died from burn injuries, according to Whitfield County Coroner Bobbie Dixon.
PDF: News release and Ante litem letter
In a news release Friday, Dalton Fire Chief Bruce Satterfield said the fire started in Jeffrey Nations' bedroom and was "caused by a human act of an undetermined nature."
He said investigators ruled out interior gas appliances, interior and exterior gas lines and electrical sources as possible causes.
"The damage that we found was not typical with a natural gas explosion," Chief Satterfield said.
But family attorney Genevieve Frazier, of Rome, Ga., said a private investigation is still under way. She has filed a notice of pending litigation with Dalton City Attorney Jim Bisson.
Ms. Frazier said Friday that the housing authority had not replaced old pipes. She said witnesses recounted a history of gas leaks and some residents complained they smelled gas shortly before the fire.
"We suspect that old galvanized piping contributed to the fire and that the housing authority had failed to have operational fire and smoke detectors," she said. "I respectfully suggest that there is political pressure to try to suggest different causes than housing authority negligence."
Ms. Frazier said Dalton Utilities supplies gas to the apartments and may also be at fault.
Housing Authority Executive Director Scott Painter declined comment.
Dalton Utilities President and CEO Don Cope said in a prepared statement that the fire department's information is based on a professional investigation. He declined further comment, referring to the potential for litigation.
Chief Satterfield said Dalton Utilities tests found no outside gas leaks leading to the service meter for the apartments and investigators "found no reason for a fire to occur in that room unless there was some type of human involvement."
He said officials couldn't speak to the victims before they died.
"I don't think we will ever know" what caused the fire, he said.