A teenager burned himself slightly trying to put out a fire that damaged his home on Andrew Hills Court near Suwanee on Tuesday morning.
A.J. Abdulla, 16, said he grabbed a kettle and filled it with water to try to save the two-story house. He burned his arm, hand, toe and foot, but couldn’t contain the fire. “It just kept getting bigger and bigger. And then I just freaked out and I came outside. I just couldn’t do anything,” he said.
Lt. Colin Rhoden from the Gwinnett County Fire Department said Abdulla’s mom, Badrun Mamun, called at about 8:20 a.m. to report the blaze. She was also the first to smell the smoke and get her family out of the house.
Rhoden said arriving authorities could see “heavy smoke and fire” coming from the house.
Abdulla’s family was able to leave the house while the teen tried to fight the blaze, but Rhoden said the situation was tense until firefighters got inside the house.
“Until we get both searches done, we’re not sure what’s going on inside the house,” he said. “It’s interesting that the fire was this far advanced when firefighters got on the scene.”
No one was seriously hurt, but one resident was treated for minor burn injuries.
Abdulla said he wanted to save his family and the Nissan he had spent two years building that was parked in the garage. The majority of the fire was in the garage and a room above the garage and the blaze damaged the car.
Investigators said the fire was caused accidentally by a faulty electrical cord in the garage.
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