Gwinnett fire crews fight 3 fires overnight

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga.,None — Gwinnett County firefighters had their hands full overnight and early Friday morning.

Fire officials had to fight house fires in both Lilburn and Snellville, after they fought a fire at a Norcross home.

Gwinnett County fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said crews responded to the single-story home on Payne Road in Norcross at about 7:40 p.m. Thursday.  The house was fully engulfed by fire, with flames spreading to the backyard, Rutledge said.

Authorities said a child alerted a family that their home was on fire moments before the flames destroyed the house. The two adults and three children in the home made it safely outside.

In both the Lilburn and Snellville fires, firefighters said no one was at home when the fires started.

"I saw the flames.  They were just coming up like 20 feet in the air out of the top of the house," said neighbor Leandra Cella.

Gwinnett County firefighters battled flames shooting from the backside of a home on Karla Joe Drive in Lilburn just before 2 a.m. Friday.

"It's four days after Christmas and everything is gone. The house is gone," said Cella.

Firefighters said a family of four lives in the home, but no one was inside.

"Luckily the children were spending the night elsewhere and the two adults were at work," said Capt. Tommy Rutledge of the Gwinnett County Fire Department.

Hours after the Lilburn fire, crews battled another house fire on Park Manor Lane in Snellville.

"It had heavy fire involvement in a second-floor bedroom. That fire did extend to the attic," aid Rutledge.

Neighbors said a family of four lives in the home, but they were out of town attending a funeral.

The house suffered extensive damage, fire officials said.

"Even though our crews were stretched, they did very well and we provided adequate coverage," said Rutledge.

Investigators are working to determine what started the fires.

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WSBTV