May 19, 2013
News 12 at 11 o'clock / Monday, Aug. 27, 2012
AUGUSTA, Ga. -- A home sits destroyed on Sutton Place in south Augusta after a fire early Sunday morning ripped through it.
"It's not really real to us. We haven't really taken it in yet," said Rickey Eberhart.
We saw Eberhart as he swung by to pick up the mail for his sister-in-law, who is now in the ICU. Firefighters say a neighbor actually tried getting her out of the house but was repeatedly thrown back by flames and smoke.
"She's doing a little better than she was when she first got there. She's breathing on her own. I'm quite sure she's listening to us talk to her, but she's not responding to anything right now," he said.
LaKeshia Barnes drove by then slammed on her brakes before backing up to the scene.
"I just rolled by, and I had to stop. I had to stop in the middle of the road, and when I saw it I was like, 'Are you serious?' and I asked my kids if that's what I just saw," Barnes cried.
She used to help the family with doctor visits.
"They're my friends. This just really throws me," she cried. "A tragedy is a tragedy, but you would not want it to happen to somebody that you know."
She's now fighting for her life as her family asks just one favor.
"Just send you blessings out to them," Eberhart said. "My brother-in-law needs all the support he can get."
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