A Gainesville man faces charges for allegedly leaving four children — all under the age of 10 — home alone before a fire a broke out at the Athens Highway mobile home on Friday.
Gregorio Garcia-Gomez, 38, left the home to pick up the children's mother from work while the children were sleeping, the Hall County Sheriff's Office said in a press release.
The oldest child, a 9-year-old girl, woke up to smoke filling the home, and got her youngest brother, 1, and sister, 3, out of the home and over to a neighbor's house, telling the neighbors to call 911. She then ran back into the home and rescued her other brother, 5.
"Given the amount of fire involvement upon our personnel’s arrival, there is no doubt as to the heroism of this nine-year-old girl. All four of the children were transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville for evaluation due to smoke inhalation and have since been released," said Hall County Fire Cpt. Zachary Brackett in a press release.
Garcia-Gomez is being held in the Hall County Jail on a $9,600 bond, facing a charge of second-degree child cruelty.
The fire is blamed on a Christmas tree that was still operating in the mobile home, according to Brackett.
