A Saturday night house fire claimed the lives of an elderly Griffin couple and the son that tried to save them.
Griffin Fire Chief Tommy Jones told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the fire at 220 Day Street — an aging, 800-square-foot home with a metal roof — broke out around 10 p.m. Saturday. Seventy-five-year-old Mary Sears and 82-year-old Andrew Foster were inside, and their son was a few houses down.
The son, 54-year-old Terry Jones, rushed to the scene, but was overcome with smoke. Flames roaring, he collapsed just inside the front door.
Police officers were the first on-scene and pulled Jones into the front yard. Firefighters then rescued his parents from the home, but all three were pronounced dead at the hospital.
Investigators know the blaze started in a back bedroom, but aren’t sure yet what triggered it.
“We found smoke detectors,” Jones, the fire chief, said. “None of the neighbors told us they heard them, but we did find them.”
The house is still standing, the chief said, but sustained “major damage.”
—Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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