Father dies helping 5 kids, wife escape Forest Park house fire

Tyeisha Gamble smelled smoke, and when her husband opened the bedroom door, the two could see flames, a family member said. Keeshay Wingo, Tyeisha’s sister, said her sister initially believed the five children had already perished. Brandon broke a window and told his wife to get out quickly. Then, he ran through flames to get to the children’s bedroom, Wingo said.

“Y’all get out! Get out the window,” Wingo said her brother-in-law screamed. “The kids said they never saw him in their room. They just heard him.”

Shortly after 2 a.m., firefighters arrived to see heavy flames coming from the front of the Burks Road home, Forest Park Deputy Fire Chief Matt Jackson said. By then, the five children — two girls and three boys ranging in age from 6 to 13 — and their mother were safely outside, with mostly cuts and scrapes from broken glass, but Brandon Gamble remained inside.

When firefighters reached Gamble, he was dead inside a hallway of the home, Jackson said.

“It could’ve been a lot worse had it not been for the father and the neighbors,” Jackson said.

Neighbor Jacob Stewart said he was in bed when he heard glass breaking. His first thought was that someone was attempting to break into the house next door.

When he looked out the window, Stewart saw flames and called for his roommate, Tumlin. Stewart put on his boots, but didn’t stop to grab a shirt before running outside to help, he said. He immediately heard screams for help.

“I saw hands just passing the kids out,” Stewart said.

A frantic Tyeisha Gamble had made it outside, and neighbors took her inside as a chaotic scene unfolded. The two neighbors were ready to help, but it was the man inside the burning home that guided the children, ages 6 to 13, to safety.

“I sure wish we could’ve helped him,” Stewart said.

Stewart and Tumlin didn’t know their neighbors well, but often saw the children playing outside. During the recent snowfall, Stewart said he had told the kids they were welcome to play in his yard, too.

As the children were rescued Thursday, Tumlin said he tried to keep the children together in his yard, away from the flames.

“I was trying to count kids,” Tumlin said.

Firefighters extinguished the flames within about 10 minutes, Jackson said.

The five children were taken to Southern Regional Medical Center, where they were treated and released after getting stitches for cuts. Their mother remained Thursday evening at Grady Memorial Hospital, where she was being treated for smoke inhalation and had glass in her eyes, her sister said. Tyeisha Gamble was surrounded by family members all still shocked and heartbroken, Wingo said.

Brandon and Tyeisha had been sweethearts since sixth grade, and their family was their top priority, Wingo said. When he wasn’t working, Brandon performed rap music under the name Gamble Boy Scooby. He lived by a motto he created based off each letter in his last name: Get A Million Before Leaving Earth.

“All he did was work for them,” Wingo said. “He loved his kids and his wife. It doesn’t even surprise me at all that he died saving them.”

An online fundraising page was created to assist Gamble's family.

The fire appeared to have started in the living room of the two-bedroom house, though the cause remained under investigation.

Kevin Klafta, owner of the 720-square-foot home, said it had central heating, but no fireplace.

Klafta said he was out of town when he got an early-morning phone call about the fire. Another neighbor told him she called 911 after seeing the fire and tried to use her garden hose to extinguish the flames, Klafta said. The family had only lived in the home since November, but Klafta already liked Gamble, who worked two jobs to support his family.

Outside the home late Thursday morning, Tumlin and Stewart praised the efforts of the man who died while saving so many young lives.

“He’s a hero,” Tumlin said. “God bless him.”

— Staff writer Steve Burns contributed to this report.