WALKER COUNTY, Ga. - A 38-year-old man died Tuesday morning in what firefighters are describing as a  flash fire. 

The fire happened around 8:25 a.m. on 116 Alton Terrace Spur in Walker County in northwest Georgia.


After a neighbor reported a fire, firefighters found heavy flames coming from a small outbuilding near the road. Crews put out the fire and found Michael James Carney dead inside the building.

A neighbor told fire investigators they saw him enter the building a short time before the flash fire.

 The fire origin and cause were determined to be accidental, resulting from the application of spray foam insulation in a small, enclosed space with inadequate ventilation,  Walker County Fire Marshal Jason Cruise said.

 Flammable vapors accumulated in the confined area and ignited from an unconfirmed heat source. The resulting ignition was a sudden, violent flash fire,  Cruise said.


Cruise said it happened very quickly and was intense, but he said it was a flash fire and not an explosion. He said the fire marked Walker County's first fire-related death of the year.

An autopsy will be conducted to determine the exact cause of death.


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