SOUTH FULTON, Ga. (AP) — Authorities Thursday continued to search for two people missing after a deadly house fire in Georgia.
Firefighters recovered two bodies — a man and a woman — on Wednesday, but Eric Perry told news outlets his 7-year-old daughter, Hailey Harris, and the child's grandmother may still be inside the rubble.
Fire crews arrived at the two-story home just before 5 a.m. and found it fully engulfed in flames. A total of 12 people were believed to be in the home at the time of the fire. At least seven people were transported to Grady Memorial Hospital for treatment. They were believed to be in stable condition.
Officials said Wednesday that the fire burned so intensely for long that it was unsafe for fire investigators to get inside to do a thorough search.
“Two-by-fours, flooring, you name it, it’s been compromised,” South Fulton Fire Department Public Information Officer Lt. Eric Jackson said. “Looking at it from the backside, that is all sunken in, all fallen in. So it’s really hampering the efforts of our firefighters to get in there.”
Perry believes his daughter and her grandmother are likely dead. Family members have started an online fundraiser to help cover possible funeral expenses.
