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Man found dead in burned shed: 'It breaks my heart!'
Neighbors along Highway 138 are deeply disturbed by the news that a man was found dead in a shed that burned down. FOX 5 Atlanta spoke to residents who said they knew the victim.
CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - A man is dead after several storage sheds caught fire overnight in Clayton County.
The Clayton County fire department responded to the fire near Highway 138 and Lake Ridge Parkway around 3:45 a.m. Dec. 28, according to their interim fire chief, Tim Sweat.
Sweat says the sheds were already fully engulfed.
"There was no safe way for us to enter any of those structures to determine if someone could possibly be inside," he said.
Sweat says Clayton County Police then arrived and informed them someone may have been inside one of the sheds.
And that's exactly what they found.
The homeowner didn’t want to go on camera, but told FOX 5 Atlanta he allowed a man who was going through a rough time and didn’t have housing to sometimes stay in his shed from time to time to get out of the elements. He says he was not aware he was sleeping there Friday night.
"I just hate to see those kinds of things happen. And then I'm just right next door," said a neighbor who wished to remain anonymous.
She told FOX 5 she awoke to see her neighbor’s sheds on fire early Saturday morning.
"I went to my bathroom, and I saw the light in the window, and I thought my yard was on fire or something," she said. "So, when I looked out, I saw the blaze that was coming from across the yard.
"Such a sad time, right here during the holidays. We pray for this family who's been impacted by these tragedies. It's just something that we hate to see," Sweat said.
The neighbor says she knew the man who stayed in the sheds as well, and even tried to help him through his struggles by praying with him.
"He was going through some things, so I just grabbed his hands and I’d say, ‘Would you like to have prayer today?’ And if they accept it, I pray," she said.
She was devastated to learn her new friend lost his life in such a tragic way just next door.
"It breaks my heart," she said through tears. "It breaks my heart. It breaks my heart. I don't like to see things like that happen."
The Source: The information in this story was provided by the Clayton County Fire Department. Other information was gathered from interviews conducted by FOX 5 Atlanta reporter Eric Mock.