Family wakes up to fire in DeKalb County, investigators say

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A family of seven woke up to flames inside its DeKalb County home on Thursday morning.

Investigators tell Channel 2's Tyisha Fernandes the fire started in the back of the house on Maple Drive around 9 a.m.

Authorities said the house went up in flames in six minutes. Family members told Fernandes they ran

out of the house so quickly that there was no time to grab any of their belongings.

"Everybody was yelling and screaming and I was, like, all I did was run outside," said Montavius Jones. He said he didn’t know why his family was in such a panic when they woke him Thursday morning but when he smelled smoke and could hear the crackle of the fire, he jumped up, grabbed his phone and ran out the front door..

"It was so like aggressive, it went from a little fire, like, 'Go get the water hose, let's put it out,' to 'Get out of the house,' in a matter of two seconds," Jones said.

The fire got so bad it spread to the home next door, firefighters said.

All seven people made it out safely.

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As they watched the flames take over their Stone Mountain home, they worried about a gas tank on the side of their house exploding.

A handicapped woman lives next door; the family said she could have been in trouble so they opened the door and told her to get out of the house fast.

"Her window was wide open. Her room is in the back of the house so, like, her whole room was full of smoke and she can’t walk. She was literally stranded," Jones said.

She made it out without injury but the extreme heat did burn the side of her home.

Firefighters put the flames out before they could get any worse.

Fernandes spoke with the mother of the home's family. She said there wasn't enough time for her to even grab her purse.

"Me, my cellphone and my kids. That’s all we got," she said.

A GoFundMe has been created to help the family. To donate, click here.

Cox Media Group