A 12-year-old boy and a Bartow County firefighter who were both injured in a house fire Thursday night are on the mend, officials said.
The boy, Keystin Neal, was rescued after he became trapped in his home on Gilreath Road. He was flown to Grady Memorial Hospital from the scene in Cartersville, Bartow fire Chief Dwayne Jamison told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
One firefighter who helped with the rescue was taken to a hospital in the area. The firefighter has since been released and is doing well, Jamison said Friday, adding that the boy’s condition had also improved.
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
Credit: Channel 2 Action News
“The young man is doing much better according to his mother,” Jamison said.
Neal’s parents and siblings were at the park Thursday evening when a neighbor saw smoke coming from their house and called 911, Channel 2 Action News reported. When Bartow fire crews arrived, they found the home filled with flames. Neal, who was home alone, had become disoriented from the smoke, causing him to get trapped inside, Channel 2 reported.
“He was in the back bedroom and he said when he opened the door, the smoke just hit him,” his mother, Chastity Neal, told the news station. “That’s when he collapsed, I believe.”
The blaze was determined to be accidental, but the exact cause remains unknown, Jamison said.