LAKE OCONEE, Ga. — Carl Mutch, chief financial officer of Cox Wood Preserving Co., and a fellow industry representative died of smoke inhalation when the house they were staying in during a business retreat on Lake Oconee, Ga. caught fire early Thursday morning, Georgia authorities said Friday.

Mutch, 61, of Orangeburg and 57-year-old Bill Baldwin of Lawrenceville, Ga. died in a fire at a guest house owned by Arch Chemicals Inc. located in Reynolds Plantation, a gated community on Lake Oconee. Baldwin was vice president of operations and industry relations for Arch Wood Protection Inc. headquartered in Smyrna, Ga. and a 32-year veteran of the industry,

Greene County Sheriff Chris Housten said Old Salem (Volunteer) Fire Department was dispatched at 3:23 a.m. to a fire at the house. He said firefighters, who arrived on the scene just minutes later, tried to combat the blaze, but it was just out of control. Authorities did manage to turn off the location’s utilities and gas.

“The fire department did a great job containing the fire. They were there very quickly,” Housten said, with only one home near the fire suffering broken windows and paint damage. The bumper and tail lights of a nearby car were melted.

Arch’s house was destroyed, and Housten said eight of the 10 guests at the retreat were not harmed.

“Bill Baldwin was the one seen going back in to find (Carl Mutch),” he said, calling the actions of Baldwin heroic. “If Mr. Baldwin hadn’t gone back in to save Carl Mutch, he probably would have made it, too.”

As for the cause of the fire, Housten said that is still under investigation, adding, “We were told they were grilling steaks that (Wednesday) night. There is a possibility that it (the grill) was left on.”

The fire allegedly started on the back deck, said Bill Cox, CEO of Cox Wood.

“We don’t know what happened,” he said. “No one has any idea of what started it and how it happened.

“Some went out with fire extinguishers to fight the fire, but it was just too intense.”

Cox said witnesses reported that it wasn’t 10 minutes from the time authorities were dispatched to the scene that the “back wall blew in on the house.”

Housten said firefighters and officials with the sheriff’s office and State Fire Marshal’s Office were on the scene much of the day Thursday.

“It was a tragedy for the families, and I’m sure for the companies they represent, but the (emergency) response to the tragedy was pretty impressive,” he said.

Mutch, who has worked at Cox for nearly 20 years, with 15 of those spent as CFO, is survived by his wife Carolyn, son Carl Mutch Jr. and daughter Anna Bolin. He is the son of Harry Mutch and the late Mildred Elizabeth “Skip” Mutch.

Baldwin is survived by his wife Mercedes and daughters Erin and Sandra.

Cox said grief counselors have been at the plant to help coworkers with Thursday’s tragedy. He said it is his understanding that as of Friday afternoon, the bodies of the two men had not been released to their families.

The men’s bodies were sent to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab in Atlanta for autopsies.

“Both families — as far as I know, things are still in limbo,” he said. “You can’t get any closure in this thing.”

Arch Chemicals spokesman Dale Walter said Arch and Cox have had a close business relationship for more than 50 years. Arch Chemicals is the parent company of Arch Wood Protection.

“Right now, our prayers and thoughts are with the families of these two men,” he said. “It was a close, almost family, relationship.”

In fact, Walter said the companies were at the guest house this week to discuss the possibility of more business ventures between the two.

He said grief counselors have been at Arch Wood Protection locations in Conley and Smyrna, Ga. to offer grief counseling to Baldwin’s coworkers as well.

“We’re all tore up about it here,” he said. “He (Baldwin) is going to be sorely missed as a coworker and a friend. It’s such a shame. It’s just a sad tragedy.”

Cox said Thursday’s incident is something the Mutch and Baldwin families and friends will have to work through on their own time.

“It’s a loss for all of us,” he said. “The sun came up today, and it will come up again tomorrow. We have to go on with our lives. Everyone has to deal with this in their own way.”

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