Man Dies In Gwinnett County Fire Trying To Save Mother

LILBURN, GA - A Lilubrn man died in a house fire Saturday trying to save his mother. A father told firefighters he awoke to smoke and alerted his adult son. He said his son helped get him out of the house and went back in to to assist his mother. The mother is in at the hospital, in critical condition. In an effort to save his mother, the son succumbed to the conditions.

Firefighters were dispatched at 3:30 a.m. Dec. 1, to a report of a fire at the 900 block of Glasgow Drive, NW in unincorporated Lilburn. The caller to 911 reported smoke and flames at their neighbor’s home.

Crews arrived on scene to find a home with flames through the roof. Per the incident commander, neighbors were pointing firefighters to the right-hand side of the house towards the back, stating that there were potential victims inside. Firefighters entered through a window and found two unconscious adult victims who were removed from the home through the window. One victim was declared deceased on scene. The second victim was transported to the hospital in critical condition.

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There was a third victim that had initially been unaccounted for. The searches revealed that this victim was conscious and already out of the home upon arrival of the firefighters.

Aerial operations were activated in addition to multiple hand lines to get a complete knockdown of the fire within twenty minutes. After being assessed, this victim was determined to have minor to moderate injuries consistent with the fire and transported to the hospital.

Through a translator at the hospital, the victim turned out to be the father of the deceased. The father awoke to smoke and alerted his adult son. He said that his adult son helped get him out of the house and went back into the structure to assist his mother (the victim that is currently in critical condition). During the deceased’s efforts to save his mother, he succumbed to the conditions.

Due to Federal Patient Privacy Laws known as HIPPA, the Fire PIO is unable to release the names of all victims. The name of the deceased victim will be disclosed by the Medical Examiner’s office once a positive identification is made and cause of death determined.

Fire investigators on scene determined the fire’s area of origin to be in a second kitchen that is an add-on, located on the back of the house. The last time the kitchen was reportedly used was late in the afternoon on the previous day. Though the area of origin has been determined, the exact cause of the fire is unknown. The home and the vehicle parked in the garage were completely destroyed as a result of the fire.

EQUIPMENT AT THE SCENE INCLUDED: 4-Engines,1-Squad, 1-Truck, 1-Air & Light, 4-Medical Units, 1-Medical Supervisor, 1-District Chief, 1-Battalion Chief, 3-Fire Investigators, 1-Assistant Fire Marshall, and 1-PIO.

Photo courtesy Gwinnett Fire Department