Statesboro Housefire Badly Burns A Teen And Two Toddlers

A teenager and two young children are in the Augusta Burn Center after fire gutted their Bulloch County home Tuesday morning. It happened on west Main Street in Statesboro just before eleven. Elgie Raymond was down the street Tuesday morning when he first saw the smoke, “Then I seen a lady run out the house you know, side the road - so I ran all the way down here.” He says the woman was burned - her hair singed...then he saw the baby on the porch, “He was trying to follow the lady - all his clothes done burnt off him - he was totally naked, done burnt all the clothes off his body…he was just sitting there crying and I run up there, I didn't care if I had got burnt too, least I was gone get him out of there.” Raymond wrapped the little boy in a coat. The two year old that family members identified as Costello Reese, Jr was flown to the Burn Center in Augusta along with his aunt - 18 year old Ciara Mincey, and cousin - toddler Naomi Mincey.

Firefighters say the fire had spread through the home by the time they arrived. Investigators believe laundry piled on a couch may have touched a nearby gas heater - setting off the fire which destroyed the home. “The fire pretty much engulfed the whole structure itself,” says Chief Larry Colbert of the Statesboro Fire Department. Three other children escaped the fire without injury. Some family members who'd been at work when the flames broke out gathered at the nearby daycare...praying for those who didn't escape the flames. “We just wait and see - we just praise god that they make it, that's all we're worrying about, “ says Patricia Mercer.

Relatives say the three fire victims taken to Augusta were listed in critical condition early Tuesday afternoon. A spokesperson for the Burn Center did not immediately return calls late Tuesday requesting an update on their condition. The Red Cross has been called in to help. They say they are assisting 9 people who lived in the home.