3 Sisters Die In Gwinnett Townhome Fire

DULUTH, Ga. -- Gwinnett County fire officials said the third teenage girl has died after a fire Friday night that already claimed the lives of two of her sisters.

The two girls were pronounced dead after being transported to Gwinnett Medical Center right after the fire, which started at about 8:30 p.m. Friday inside the family's townhome. The third had been in intensive care, but died Saturday evening.

Gwinnett County Fire Capt. Tommy Rutledge said the girls, ranging in age from 12 to 19, were trapped on the third floor, where they suffered from smoke inhalation and burns. They were found together in a closet.

Their townhome was located at Howell Park Townhomes -- on Howell Park Rd., off of N. Berkeley Lake Rd. and Pleasant Hill Rd.

Capt. Rutledge said the girls' mother was also in the home and escaped the fire by jumping off of the back deck. She was not seriously hurt.

Neighbors tried to rescue the girls after calling 9-1-1, but the smoke and flames were so thick and intense they could not get inside the unit.

"The mother was screaming that her children were on the third floor," said one of the neighbors, Martin Bivens, "she couldn't reach them.... she said she climbed down the deck, she was hysterical, she just kept saying that her babies were trapped on the third floor, she couldn't get to them, she tried to call them, they weren't responding."

Capt. Rutledge said the firefighters who entered the burning townhome "were under heavy smoke and heat conditions, heavy fire conditions, very adverse conditions" as they climbed upstairs to the third floor. "They were able to locate the victims, were able to remove them, and transport them to the hospital."

Rutledge said the cause is not known yet, but that the fire began in a bedroom on the ground floor near the kitchen of the home.

"It's very, very, very heartbreaking," said Bivens. "It's sad. Sad. My heart goes out to the family.

Their names have not yet been released.