6 people killed, 5 others hospitalized after Georgia house catches fire
Six people were killed when a house caught on fire in western Georgia early Monday morning, fire officials announced.
The fire happened in Newnan, Georgia, about 42 miles southwest of Atlanta.
Dispatchers were notified about the fire shortly before 5 a.m. and the caller said some people may still be inside, Coweta County officials said in a news release.
“We also had five people that were already outside,” said Robby Flanagan, fire chief of Coweta County Fire Rescue, at a news conference Monday morning. “At that time, we found out that there were six more, so there was a total of 11 people at this residence.”
The first unit showed up in nine minutes and found over 50% of the home was engulfed in flames. Fire was also coming from the roof, the news release said.
“We transported the first five victims that were out of the house upon arrival to Grady Hospital,” said Flanagan, fire chief. “We did find out that a couple of them are in serious condition at this time.”
Flanagan said crews evacuated the six people from inside the home by 5:16 a.m. after finding the first victim at 5:08 a.m. All six of those victims died.
A Coweta County Firefighter also suffered minor injuries.
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Victims range in age
According to Coweta County officials, the victims who died include Ernest Horton and Fannie Horton, both 74, 36-year-old Katie Bonner, 13-year-old Jonathon Bonner, 12-year-old Jared Bonner and 6-year-old Colton Bonner.
Flanagan called it a "tough morning" and said typically in these situations, the crew gathers to debrief.
"They're human too," he said. "Their hearts go out to those families. A lot of out folks obviously have kids and moms and dads, so anytime something like this happens, it's devastating."
He added that 23 units were at the scene and got the victims out in just over 15 minutes.
"Upon arrival, the left side of the house all the way to about midpoint was on fire," he said. "The fire had vented through the roof. We had to get that fire knocked down real quick so that we could get in there and hopefully the victims have a chance."
Coweta County Fire Rescue is working with the Coweta County Fire Marshal, Coweta County Sheriff’s Office and the State Fire Marshal to find out what caused the fire.
Saleen Martin is a reporter on USA TODAY's NOW team. She is from Norfolk, Virginia – the 757. Follow her on Twitter at @SaleenMartin or email her at sdmartin@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia house fire: 6 dead, 5 hospitalized in Coweta County blaze