Heroic neighbors rescue teens from Peachtree City house fire

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. - A Peachtree City mother is grateful to her neighbors and first responders who saved her teenage children from a house fire that had trapped them upstairs.

On Sunday evening in Peachtree City, around 9 o’clock, neighbors reported a loud explosion. They came out of their homes to discover a house on fire with teenagers trapped upstairs. They grabbed ladders and went to work.

What they're saying:

"When I ran toward the house, I heard glass breakage and heard the young lady upstairs screaming, ‘Where’s my brother? Where’s my brother?’" said next-door neighbor JC Shegog. He says his wife was right behind him with a ladder, and another neighbor had one too.

He says a 13-year-old boy, the girl’s brother, had already gotten out safely, but the 17-year-old girl was pinned upstairs by heavy smoke and fire. JC says he coaxed her out of the open window and onto the roof.

"I then gave her instructions on how she could come down, and I was going to catch her," Shegog said. But arriving police officers grabbed one of the ladders and put it under the teen for her to climb down.

Firefighters say the blaze started in the kitchen, and heavy smoke and flames cut off the teens from the downstairs exits. "They were unable to get down the stairs because of the heat and smoke," said Deputy Chief Wil Harbin of the Peachtree City Fire Rescue Department.

Firefighters say both teens were treated at the scene and were okay. We’re told their mother is a doctor and rushed home from work. In a social media post, the mother thanked her neighbors and the first responders, saying, "I walked away with what is most dear, my children and our beloved fur babies. You all put your life on the line for us…"

"I was glad to help because I would want someone to do the same for my family," Shegog said. Shegog is a former military and law enforcement officer, now working as a security consultant and author of a book on personal safety. The fire department says he’s likely going to add to his accolades with an award from them.

"We are extremely grateful for the neighbor jumping into action," Harbin said. "He did all the right things." Harbin said Shegog was right to not enter the burning home but coax the girl out of the window and onto the roof.

Dig deeper:

This is the second house fire in two weeks in Peachtree City. They say that in the first one, they had to rush in to save an elderly man from a house fire, something they haven’t had to do in 25 years in this city. So, with this second fire and rescue now, they say that is highly unusual for this community.