Father killed in Gwinnett County house fire

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Authorities in Gwinnett County are investigating a fire that killed a man and one of his dogs.

The fire happened on Bleeker Street in Lawrenceville Sunday.

Channel 2's Matt Johnson spoke with neighbors who said they heard several loud booms that sounded like explosions before the fire. Cell phone video shows how smoke covered parts of the neighborhood.

"It was scary," said Shatika Hunter, who lives in the area. "It was three loud booms and it sounded like a truck was going by."

Rain late Saturday night into Sunday morning brought a cold front behind it. A benefit of the rain was the record-breaking pollen count slicing in half in a few days.

It was just before 11:30 a.m. when firefighters showed up to the burning house.

Firefighters said they saw heavy flames on the right side of the house where the garage was. When they contained the fire, they found a man's body inside of the home.

"This is a very tragic situation. We're trying to determine the exact cause of the fire. Right now it's undetermined, under investigation at this point," said Cpt. Tommy Rutledge with the Gwinnett County Fire Department.

Firefighters said they're working to notify the victim's relatives before releasing his name.

Neighbors who witnessed the fire said it will be a while before the community can move on.

"It's sad because we're all family, we all know each other in this neighborhood and nothing like this ever happened, it's really quiet," Hunter said.

TRENDING STORIES:

Cox Media Group