GRIFFIN, Ga. — A woman and three children were life-flighted to Atlanta after being pulled from their burning Griffin home and saved on Thursday morning.
The fire broke out at a home right behind the Spalding County Fire Department’s Woodroof station.
The Woodroof Collection Center is located behind the fire department, which is where Keith Holloway was dropping off trash when a neighbor of his who was also at the dump site asked him if he smelled smoke.
Holloway said that’s when he looked up and saw smoke billowing up from what appeared to be a mobile home next door.
As Holloway was trying to see where the fire was coming from, he said he noticed a small child at the fence between the collection center and mobile home park.
“He was in his underwear, soot-covered and screaming for help,” Holloway explained, adding, “The child wasn’t really crying but knew something bad was happening in his house.”
Holloway said that’s when he jumped in his car and started back out towards Old Atlanta Road to get over to the mobile home.
He said he quickly jumped out at the fire department, beat on the door and let them know there was a fire.
Holloway said he didn’t stick around -- he jumped back in his car and pulled up to the mobile home.
He ran up to the door but Holloway said it wouldn’t open.
“I started screaming, 'Unlock the door, unlock the door,”' he said.
Holloway said they could hear the cries for help coming from inside the mobile home.
“I’m starting to pry the door and then thinking like, 'What am I going to do?”' he explained.
Holloway said right about the time he backed up from trying to pry the door open, a neighbor from across the street showed up.
He said within seconds, the neighbor managed to get the door open.
Holloway said the next thing he knew, he looked up, and the neighbor was carrying a child’s body out of the home.
He said he started doing CPR on the boy but yelled for Holloway to get back in there.
“He said, 'There’s another one in there, go get her,”' Holloway explained.
He said by this time, the smoke and heat were so intense he couldn’t see anything but knew he had to try and find the child.
Down on his hands and knees, Holloway said, “I started crawling and just feeling then I finally felt a foot or the bottom of a leg and pulled her out.”
He said she was still breathing.
By this time, Holloway said Spalding County firefighters were on the scene and rushed into the house to save the woman.
He said she looked lifeless when they brought her out and they started performing CPR on her.
All four were flown to Atlanta, and on Thursday night, 11Alive confirmed they were all recovering. However, their exact conditions are unknown. The coroner believes that all four will survive.
Spalding County Fire Marshal Rocky White said it was truly a team effort that saved this entire family.
“We could have had a much, much worse outcome had it not been for the actions of not only our personnel but for the individuals again who live in this community and sprung into action to help,” he explained.
White did explain how the first child managed to get out of the house. He said the woman managed to drop the child out of a window which is how the little boy managed to get the attention of Holloway next door.
The state fire marshal was called to help Spalding County Fire investigate the cause of the fire.
Sadly, White said the family lost several pets in the fire.