A fire tore through a three-story single-family home on Lake Drive in DeKalb County overnight, killing one person and sending two others to the hospital with injuries. Firefighters arrived around 8:30 p.m. to find the house engulfed in heavy smoke and flames, with a man and woman already outside in the backyard, hurt but alive.
Those two survivors had managed to escape the burning structure on their own before crews got there, according to FOX 5 Atlanta, which reported that first responders found them in the backyard with injuries and took them to a hospital. Firefighters then learned from residents that a third person was still trapped inside. They searched the home and found that person dead, the station reported.
Cause And Victims Remain Unknown
Authorities have not released the names, ages, or current medical conditions of the two injured adults, nor have they publicly identified the person who died inside the home, per the same station's reporting. Investigators also have not determined where the fire started or what caused it. No firefighters were hurt during the response, the outlet noted.
The blaze was also reported by Atlanta News First, which described the fire as striking Saturday night in the Stone Mountain area, with the fire's cause still under investigation as of early reporting. DeKalb County Fire Rescue has not provided additional updates on the condition of the surviving man and woman or the identity of the person who died.
A Grim Pattern In Metro Atlanta
The Lake Drive fire follows another deadly house fire in Atlanta earlier this month, when a woman and a teenager were killed, according to the Atlanta Fire Rescue Department as reported by CBS46. Nationally, fire casualty data compiled by the U.S. Fire Administration shows that in 2023, the national average for all fire casualties stood at 2.1 deaths and 6.4 injuries per 1,000 fires.
For now, the scope of what happened inside the Lake Drive home remains limited to what DeKalb County Fire Rescue has confirmed: a fast-moving fire, two people who made it out, and one who did not. Investigators have not said when they expect to determine the point of origin or release the identity of the victim.
