Local

Son tried to help save father's life in Stanly Co. fire

STANLY COUNTY, N.C. — The Stanly County fire marshal said a grandfather died in a house fire and his son was airlifted to the hospital.

The fire broke out at a mobile home on Pleasant Hill Road in Stanly County.

Firefighters received a 911 call around 5:41 a.m. Friday.

Fire Marshal Michael Roark said the fire started on the front porch and the cause is still under investigation.

Neighbors described what happened Friday morning.

"I guess they couldn't get to him due to the heat. The whole house engulfed in flames," said Charles Jernoske, a neighbor.
Jernoske heard loud booms at the time of the fire.

"I jumped outta bed and I looked out the window, and I (saw) flames," he said.
 
Another neighbor, Manuel Martinez, said he called 911 and saw the victim's son try to go back in and save his father.


"He was basically crying on the floor that he couldn't get him out," Martinez said. "He was saying, 'I couldn't get him out.'"
 
The son was airlifted to Winston-Salem for burn treatment.
 
'He's got several second- and third-degree burns. You know his face, his shoulder and his arms, but he's going to make a recovery," said family friend Nicole Hastings.
 
Hastings said there was a couple, their son and their grandfather living in the home and she's heartbroken the grandfather died.

"He was a really good man, I mean you couldn't have asked for a better person, nice to everybody," Hastings said.

Neighbors and local church members are collecting clothes and furniture for the family.
 
Officials have not released the victims' names.

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