Six people were rescued from a burning Gwinnett County apartment building after a grease fire spread out of control on New Year's Eve.
Firefighters were called to Stone Mountain Street in Lawrenceville around 9:44 p.m., where Gwinnett County Fire Captain Tommy Rutledge said they found smoke and flames showing from a first-floor unit on the right side of a two-story wood and brick apartment building in the Cherokee Court Apartments complex.
"Fire crews were immediately met with a group of people signaling for help from the second-floor window of an apartment on the front-left corner of the building," Rutledge explained. "Firefighters quickly deployed a ground ladder to the window to perform rescue operations as additional crews stretched attack hose lines to control the blaze."
Three adults and three children were rescued from the unit and evaluated at the scene for possible smoke inhalation. Rutledge said the children were transported to a local hospital for further observation with what were described as non-life-threatening injuries.
Rutledge said city police also responded to the scene, and were eventually needed to assist in the operation.
"One man in the group actually jumped from the window as firefighters were positioning the ladder for rescue," he reported. "The man was detained by Lawrenceville Police for acting belligerent at the scene."
The fire was determined to be accidental in nature and originated from the kitchen of the first-floor unit.
"The occupant in the unit where the fire started was cooking and told the Fire Investigator that the grease ignited on the stove. He attempted to douse the fire with water, but the flames spread out of control," Rutledge continued. "The man called 9-1-1 and then began knocking on doors to alert the other tenants of the building."
Firefighters were reported to have the fire under control by 10:20 p.m.
The unit where the fire originated suffered heavy damage in the incident, while three adjoining units suffered extensive smoke damage, in addition to water damage from firefighting efforts.
Rutledge said the Red Cross had been notified to assist the individuals displaced by the fire.
