Georgia firefighters face 'tough morning' as they pull 6 dead from house fire
June 17 (UPI) -- Six people died, including three children, and five others were injured in a house fire near Atlanta on Monday morning, officials said.
When Coweta County Fire Rescue crews arrived at the house at 4:57 a.m. in Newnam, they found it was 50% engulfed in flames. The fire quickly spread through the home and into the attic.
Newnam is 38 miles southwest of Atlanta.
"Eleven people being in the house and crews responding to that and having six victims, it's just a tough morning," Chief Robby Flanagan said.
All six people pulled from the house were dead.
Five other people were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital, some with serious injuries.
"There's no way we're going to reason this out. So you know, there's going be a lot of unanswered questions," Rev. Buddy Waldron, of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church in Senoia, Ga., told WTVM-TV. "That's probably one of the major issues that's going through the minds of this family, those children. Older generations, we know that our time is near but children, you don't expect that."
Oscar and Kayla Bonner, their children and other relatives were inside the residence when the fire started.
The Coweta County Coroner's Office said the dead are 6, 12, 13, 36, 60, and 70.
A Coweta County firefighter also sustained minor injuries.
Coweta County Fire Rescue is working with the Coweta County fire marshal, the Coweta County Sheriff's Office and the State Fire marshal to determine the cause of the fire.
Ryan McMillan, a neighbor, said he heard what sounded like calls for help when he came up on the home as five people were coming out.
"The adult female had two babies in her arms, a small little girl behind her, and they were completely black, covered in soot and all dirty," Ryan McMillan told WXIA-TV. "The male had his shirt off and no shoes on and he wasn't very responsive and just seemed like he may have been in shock."
