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Bodies of 7-year-old girl, grandmother recovered from burned South Fulton home

By and FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Updated  October 20, 2022 11:41pm EDT
South Fulton
FOX 5 Atlanta

2 victims found after Oswego Trail house fire in South Fulton

The young girl and her grandmother were among four people unaccounted four after a fire broke out at the home on Oswego Trail in South Fulton early Wednesday morning. Firefighters were on scene all day searching for the woman and child.

SOUTH FULTON, Ga. - Firefighters say Thursday afternoon they pulled the bodies of two missing people from the rubble after a deadly house fire more than 24 hours earlier.

Grieving family members held vigil just outside the burned home on Oswego Trail in South Fulton for most of the day as the search continued. 

The bodies of 7-year-old Hailey Harris and her grandmother, Tanya Harris, were located on the second level of the residence.

Through all the digging and all the combing through of debris we have located the last two victims,"said South Fulton Fire Lt. Eric Jackson.

7-year-old Hailey Harris

7-year-old Hailey Harris (Provided by family)

A cadaver dog was brought in to help with the search. Atlanta Fire Rescue joined South Fulton firefighters on scene to help shore up the structure after the fire caused the roof to collapse.

"Two-by-fours, flooring, you name it, it's been compromised," said Lt. Jackson. "Looking at it from the backside, that is all sunken in, all fallen in. So it's really hampering the efforts of our firefighters to get in there."

Officials with the South Fulton Fire and Rescue say firefighters responded to a single-family home on the 7200 block of Oswego Trail early Wednesday morning.

When crews got to the scene they found the building covered in heavy smoke and flames with the roof partially caved in. Lt. Jackson described the situation as "dangerous."

At least seven people were rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital. They were believed to be in stable condition.

Officials said Wednesday the blaze burned so intensely for so long it was unsafe for officials to get inside until the afternoon. That's when the bodies of a man and woman were recovered, but the bodies of the 7-year-old girl and her grandmother were still not accounted for.

Child, grandmother believed to be inside burned home in South Fulton

The father of the girl, who believed to have died in a house fire are waiting for firefighters to recover her body and her grandmother's.

"We were working simultaneously trying to determine how the fire started, and working with trying to find these individuals, so that's why there were so many firefighters on scene. Now that they have been brought down, located, now we can focus 100% on cause and determination," said Lt. Jackson.

"Four of my family members are gone. All we can do is stay strong and keep our heads up that's all," said family member Javonte Harris.

As fire investigators work to determine how the fire started, the victims' family struggle to come to grips with their devastating loss.

"Whole house gone, plus my momma and my niece and my auntie and her husband," said Harris. "We had a lot of love lost in this house."

A GoFundMe campaign was created to help raise money for funeral services for the four victims.