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Posted on 10/28/2026 8:43:50 AM PDT by Twotone
A large Georgia family survived flames that destroyed their house — thanks to a good Samaritan who stumbled upon the blaze after his GPS took him a different way home, officials said Tuesday.
Firefighters in northwest Georgia were called at 11:58 p.m. Oct. 17 and rushed to 28 Rowlls Road, where they found the structure engulfed by flames, Lyerly Fire Chief Tim Deberry told NBC News.
James and Larita Burke, their 11 adopted children and one grandchild made it out safely with a helping hand from 37-year-old motorist Casey Sparks, officials said.
Sparks had been playing softball that day in Dalton and was headed home to Concord, Alabama, when his GPS kept putting him on Georgia Route 114, a highway he had not used on the way up.
“I redid my GPS like two or three times, and it kept telling me to go that way,” Sparks told NBC News. “So it’s like, ‘All right, I guess we’re going this way.’”
A short time later, Sparks spotted flames near Lyerly, which is about 60 miles south of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
“It was a glow, like a bonfire,” he said. “I mean, you could see the glow from the fire from the hill.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
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God. Gotta love it.
Divine intervention!
Beat me to it. God does work in mysterious ways
That family has ELEVEN adopted children, plus one grandchild living there. Amazing that a retired couple still has so much caring and attention ready to give!
So glad they were alerted to the fire and rescued.
From an OSHA point of view, seems to me, a home with 11 adoptions is more or less a Care Facility, and thus subject to strict laws of Fire Safety. They need to get those smoke alarms checked. How recently had they conducted a Fire Drill or checked their Co2 Bottles? I used to be part of the Ship’s Safety Team while in the Navy.
This is the individual you want living in your neighborhood.
Yeah. Sometimes there’s really no other explanation.
Sounds like a Godly intervention to me! Praise the Lord!
accidental hero
I hope you're right. There is a little sliver of cynicism in me that reminds me it is not unheard of for an arsonist to start a fire and then rush in so he can be the hero :-/
In Gps we trust.
YES!!
“Beat me to it. God does work in mysterious ways”
He certainly does. Why do you suppose he chooses to save one family and let another be burned?
Mysterious indeed.
GPS: God’s Positioning System
Pretty sure the guy driving to home for three hours with his 13 yr old son is not the arsonist your sliver of cynicism was reminding you of, right?
Casey Sparks is a HERO and deserves to be recognized by the Governor of Ga and POTUS.
With the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Glad it worked out ok for everyone but can’t help but wonder WHY he didn’t call 911 as he was approaching what he could see was a dwelling fire without fire equipment around that indicated it was being taken care of.
Great work motorist! You’re the family’s angel.
100%
Praise the Lord.
“ Why do you suppose he chooses to save one family and let another be burned?”
This isn’t heaven. Read some stories about people who did great things and had a history of being mysteriously saved. The women of Irish ancestry used to say “the Lord must be preserving you for something”
In thi case, maybe to get a CO2 detector.
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