Father dies after rescuing 5 children from house fire

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — A father heroically saved his five children from a house fire, but couldn’t escape the flames himself.

Forest Park firefighters got a call about a house fire on Burks Road around 2 a.m. Thursday. When they

got to the home, the fire was heavily involved.

Neighbors told Channel 2's Tom Jones they woke up to screams and found the mother, Tyesha Gamble, outside bleeding. They said that's when they saw her husband, Brandon Gamble, dropping his kids from the burning home out of a window.

Neighbors said that when Tyesha Gamble realized her husband couldn't get out, she lost it.

“Distraught. Distraught. Distraught. She said, ‘My husband, my husband.'” She was, like, ‘My husband.’ We tried to go over there but there was nothing we could do for him," said neighbor Jacob Stewart.

A neighbor, John Sumlin, said he thought Brandon Gamble had gotten out but that wasn't the case. He died inside the home.

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Family members said the fire was too intense for him to get out.

“For some reason I believe the smoke or something must’ve trapped him in because the whole hall had engulfed,” said his mother-in-law Karen Wingo.

Wingo told Jones she is so proud of her son who vowed to protect Tyesha Gamble and their children.

"He was determined to go get them regardless. He told her 'No,' so he went to get the kids," Wingo said.

Tyesha Gamble was taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation. The kids suffered minor cuts and bruises.

Investigators said the children range in age from 6 to 13 years old.

Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.

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Cox Media Group