Wrong GPS route leads driver to save sleeping family of 14 from house fire

Fourteen people escaped a total house fire in northwest Georgia on October 17 because a motorist was taking a wrong turn. Casey Sparks, a 37-year-old welding equipment repairman from Concord, Alabama, arrived at the scene after his navigation system repeatedly directed him onto Georgia State Route 114. The home at 28 Rowlls Road in Lyerly was completely destroyed by the blaze.

Lyerly Fire Chief Tim Deberry said firefighters were dispatched at 11:58 p.m. on October 17. Upon arrival, they found the structure fully engulfed. The occupants included James Burke, 58, his wife Larita, their 11 adopted children, and one grandchild. All members of the household survived the incident.

Sparks had been playing softball in Dalton, Georgia, before heading home. He stated that his global positioning system kept suggesting the same unfamiliar route despite his attempts to change it. He described the device as persistent, noting that he restarted the navigation system two or three times before accepting the detour. He said, “So it’s like ‘All right, I guess we’re going this way.’”

While driving near Lyerly, located about 60 miles south of Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sparks observed a large glow on a hill. He compared the light to a bonfire. He pulled over and saw a teenage boy trying to fight the flames with a garden hose. Sparks determined the front of the house was already burning and that the hose was insufficient. He instructed his 13-year-old son to call 911 before entering the building.

Deberry explained that Sparks likely saved lives through rapid action. The fire chief said Sparks entered the home, yelled for everyone to leave, and began guiding them out. Deberry estimated that if the family had remained inside for five more minutes, there would have been fatalities. Sparks recalled finding a young girl in a hospital bed. He carried her to another exit that was clear of fire and handed her over a fence to a neighbor. He then returned inside to assist the others.

James Burke told WRCB that he fell asleep in his recliner while the rest of the family slept in their bedrooms. He woke to the sound of a stranger shouting in the living room. Burke said the man told him, “Hey, you’ve got to get out of here. Your house is on fire.” Burke expressed gratitude for the help, acknowledging that the driver was on a path he had never taken before.

Sparks said he did not feel fear during the rescue, attributing his focus to adrenaline. He noted that Southerners help their neighbors. He now believes the detour was intended. Sparks joked that he had initially viewed the extra three hours of driving as a nuisance. He said, “Now I see it, I wasn’t putting two and two together at the time.”