Father killed in Caldwell County house fire despite son’s efforts to save him

GRANITE FALLS, N.C. — A son in Caldwell County did everything possible to try and save his father from their burning home, but it just wasn’t enough.

The SBI and fire investigators responded to the deadly house fire Thursday on Woods Drive in Granite Falls.

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Firefighters said they believe the fire was accidental, starting near a space heater.

Channel 9 learned that the son tried several times to reach his father inside, at one point breaking out a downstairs window to reach him.

There were six people inside when the fire started. Five of them, including an elderly couple and a child, made it out.

But firefighters said David Dewey died in the blaze.

Rick Earls showed us where his nephew tried to get into the home to reach his father.

“It hits hard because it’s family. I can’t imagine what he is going through and what he was going through at the time,” Earls said.

A neighbor showed us the surveillance camera outside his home right across the street.

He was at a truck stop in Georgia and watched on his cellphone as Dewey’s son bravely went into the home after breaking out a window despite the smoke and flames.

“I’ve never seen anything like that in my life,” said the neighbor Jerry McCall. “I could hear his father screaming and junior telling him to jump out of the top window, but he said, ‘I can’t.’”

Dewey’s son was airlifted to the hospital after receiving burns.

Two Granite Falls Public Works employees who were nearby helped get him away from the home.

Channel 9 learned the son is now out of the hospital.

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