Parents pull three children from burning trailer, but lose two girls to fatal blaze

A trailer stands in ruins at the scene of a fire Tuesday morning in the Pond Springs Community of Chickamauga. The fire claimed the lives of a 6 year old and an 8 month old.
A trailer stands in ruins at the scene of a fire Tuesday morning in the Pond Springs Community of Chickamauga. The fire claimed the lives of a 6 year old and an 8 month old.

CHICKAMAUGA, Ga. - From a trailer on a hill in North Georgia, smoke wafted down into a valley Tuesday morning. The trailer stood charred, its windows broken, its wood splintered, the roof collapsed in the middle.

Surrounding the property on Carabou Lane in a rural stretch one road east of the Walker County landfill, investigators and firefighters peered inside. They were looking for the bodies of two girls.

photo A fire engulfed a trailer in the Pond Springs Community.

Fire Chief Randy Camp said 6-year-old Nataliegh L. Long and 8-month-old Jocelyn K. Long died after flames engulfed the trailer around 6 a.m. Tuesday. The cause of the fire was not known as of Tuesday evening.

"It's very difficult," Camp said. "It's a terrible thing to lose anyone in a fire, moreover a child. You do everything you can."

There were five survivors: 28-year-old Heather N. Long, 38-year-old Richard A. Long, a 9-year-old girl, a 7-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy. Walker County Sheriff Steve Wilson said the Longs are parents to four of the children, including victim Nataliegh Long. Richard Long is victim Jocelyn Long's grandfather, and Heather her step-grandmother.

Investigators did not know as of Tuesday afternoon what happened before the fire, Wilson said. The adults were distraught and unable to provide details of those early morning moments. But the sheriff said the woman mentioned something about a candle being lit - investigators weren't sure if the candle fell and ignited part of the trailer.

A 911 call reporting the fire came in around 6 a.m. A sheriff's deputy arrived on scene to find flames covering about 80 percent of the house. Fire came out of the windows, floor and roof.

At some point, a gas tank exploded. At least 20 firefighters responded to the scene.

Wilson said Richard Long ran out the back of the trailer, hustled to the front and broke a window. He and Heather Long managed to pull out three of the children.

"The father was instrumental in bringing these children out of the home," Wilson said.

Three hours later, as the firefighters put out the last of the flames, investigators found the bodies of the two who died. Nataliegh Long was a student at Saddle Ridge Elementary and Middle School in Rock Spring.

The county coroner drove the bodies to a GBI crime lab in Decatur. Paramedics took the surviving members of the family to Erlanger hospital, where they were checked for any smoke inhalation injuries. Doctors released the adults later Tuesday morning, Wilson said, while the children would remain at TC Thompson Children's Hospital at Erlanger for overnight observation.

Camp added that one firefighter went to the hospital for treatment of a minor burn.

Wilson said the county fire marshal, an investigator with the state fire marshal's office and the sheriff's office are still investigating the case. The fire marshals will look at the physical evidence at the trailer, while the sheriff's investigators will interview the family.

They will try to see where the survivors' statements match the evidence of the damage to create a picture of what unfolded in the minutes before the fire began.

Wilson said members of the Red Cross know about the fire and are working with the Longs.

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.

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