RINCON, GA (WTOC) -
A Rincon family has lost everything after their home goes up in flames early Saturday morning.
Just behind the Green Drive home in the Westwood subdivision, a group of friends were celebrating a birthday when the birthday boy, Allen Grimes, looked through the trees and saw flames.
"I said 'Hey, look! They have a fire going also.' And I said, 'That's not a fire. Their house is on fire!'," Grimes said.
The entire group quickly ran towards the burning house and with the help of other in the community immediately jumped into action, as they ran inside the house to pull Audrey Warner, a mother of three, out to safety.
Grimes said, "Me and Kristin went to grab her arms, but we just couldn't so we grabbed her legs."
Kristen Brown said, "Allen and I pulled her out the rest of the way and started CPR on her."
But Warner's husband Vernon Warner, 39, wasn't so fortunate. He died in the fire.
Billy Grimes said, "To hear on the news that the guy was five feet, six feet, eight feet from the front door and to probably walk by him hurts, but there's nothing I could have done. I couldn't see the guy.
"Unfortunately we didn't see the gentleman in there and didn't know where he was, but what if we wouldn't have been there," said Allen Grimes.
A couple in the group has injuries from helping rescue the woman. Tonja Hathaway has a few scratches on her forehead from her running into a six-foot fence to try to get to the home. And Billy Grimes has burns on two of his fingers, one finger having second degree burns, but they all say their pain is nothing compared to the pain being felt by the Warner family.
There were also three children inside the home, but they made it out okay.
Since the family lost everything they owned in the fire, La Dee Da Children's Boutique (912-295-5470) in Rincon is collecting clothing donations for the children.
You can drop off donations at the store located at 135 Goshen Road. Any clothes the children can't wear will be sold, with all of the money going to the Warner family.
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