Chatham County Man dies after running back into burning home to save dog

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A 52-year-old man died after family members say he ran back into a burning home to try to save his dog.

Chatham County firefighters were called to the home on Runaway Point Road Tuesday shortly after 11 p.m. Family members who escaped said the fire spread quickly from the back of the house as smoke rolled through the rooms.

Terry Brown says he had just gotten home from visiting friends when he heard loud pops coming from inside. He says when he opened the back door, flames burst in—making it clear it wasn’t gunfire, it was the fire.

“So I go to the door and opened it and the fire just burst open and roared in,” Brown said.

Brown said he began waking relatives, and Pierce said she realized the danger when her grandson met her in the hallway.

“I jumped up and ran into the hallway, I met my grandson and he said ‘Grandma the house is on fire,’” Pierce said.

The family said everyone rushed out except Pierce’s brother, Anthony Pierce, who went back inside for his dog. Pierce said she begged him to come out but had to leave as smoke intensified.

“I was trying to beg my brother, I begged him. I said Anthony, please please come out,” she said. “After he wouldn’t come out, I had to come out because that smoke started getting to me.”

First responders pulled him from the home and attempted CPR, but he did not survive, the family said. They said the dog also died.

Pierce said the loss comes just two weeks after another brother died from cancer.

“My mama, she is, she is zoned out… I’m torn up about it but I have to stay strong for my mama,” Pierce said.

The cause of the fire is under a joint investigation by the Georgia State Fire Marshal’s Office, Chatham County Fire Department and Chatham County Police Department.