Neighbors say they tried helping victim in deadly Cobb County house fire before firefighters arrived

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 Action News learned more about a deadly Cobb County fire.

Neighbors said they tried helping the victim before firefighters arrived.

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Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michelle Newell was live on Channel 2 Action News at 6 p.m. at Arbor Mill Mobile Home Park where the fire started.

Nearly a day after flames claimed the life of one man and gutted and destroyed his home, the smell of smoke was still very strong.

“We had to keep spraying this,” said Andrew Higgins, a neighbor.

Higgins said he didn’t think twice when he ran to his neighbor’s house as it burned.

“We just got this hose and started trying to help out as much as we can,” said Higgins.

“I came out on the porch and smelled something burning, looked that way and it was all lit up with flames,” said Gerry Quinn, a neighbor. “We ran and started to water his trailer down and wet the back of that one down.”

All that’s left now is a frame of what was once someone’s home.

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Cobb County Medical Examiner is trying to identify the victim.

Neighbors said the man lived there with his son, but the son wasn’t there at the time of the fire.

“He was never a bad neighbor. He was a good guy. He used to pick up metal in the neighborhood to help out with that,” said a neighbor.

The cause of the fire is still unclear, but the flames were so intense that the heat melted the side panels of a mobile home next door.

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