“I heard he was standing there and that the Milledgeville Fire Department had taken him across the street,” Kidd said.

Reed had stopped paying rent around four months ago and had been squatting at the property since, according to Kidd.

Despite denotation to the contrary, everything with regards to the process was done legally and by the books, according to Kidd, Jack Graham, city marshal, and Tom Dietrich, Milledgeville fire chief.

Signs were placed on the home six weeks ago stating it had been condemned and four months ago paperwork was filed to begin the eventual process that led to Thursday’s controlled burn, according to Kidd.

“All I know is that he wasn’t here and that we made sure that no animals or people were inside the building when we began,” Dietrich said outside the home Thursday. “We were getting at least one call a day. The mayor’s office was receiving calls. The code enforcement office was receiving calls. The place was an eyesore. The house wasn’t fit to live in.”

When contacted for comment, Reed, who watched the property burn from across the street, seemed resigned to the removal of the home and the car that he had called home and a bed for nearly two years.

“I had lived there for eight years. I moved there about six months before 9/11,” Reed said. “Old folks don’t have any recognition or resources to make an issue out of it, but that shouldn’t stop you from getting as old and as crotchety as possible.”

When questioned about his future plans or where he would be spending Thursday evening, Reed expressed interest in relocation to a coastal area — though for the time being, it’s the stray cats that he fed each day that should come first, according to Reed.

“I’d like to make my way to Chatham County. It’s better there for folks to express themselves and not be a burden on everyone,” Reed said. “My cats come first. They’ve been a plus and a friend for me for too long to give up on them, and I’ve got to see to them first.”

Baldwin County Animal Control removed several cats from the property prior to Thursday’s controlled burn, according to Dietrich.

Neighbors of the North Jefferson Street home expressed concern over the fate of Reed Thursday, but also noted that the house and the property around it had become difficult to deal with over the past few years.

Curtis Patrick rents 920 N. Jefferson St., and watched part of the blaze through a bedroom window Thursday afternoon.

“I’m glad it’s gone. They told me Monday that the fire marshal said they’d burn it down. Rusty [Kidd] came up on Tuesday and knocked down a shed and cleaned things up,” Patrick said.

Even with the condition of the home, Reed was a reliable neighbor and was willing to speak on almost any subject, according to Patrick.

“When you walk up and talk to him he’d talk to you about anything. He was out there every day. We had talked to him [Reed] a couple of times but he wasn’t that talkative. When we first moved in here, he’d stay in the house at night,” Patrick said.