JACKSON, Ga. (AP) - A 12-year-old boy has died and his teenage sister was badly burned in a house fire in Georgia.
The fire broke out Sunday morning in Butts County, near Indian Springs State Park, news outlets reported.
The boy was pronounced dead shortly after the fire and the girl was airlifted to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta to be treated for serious burns, news outlets reported.
The boy didn't live at the home, but he came to visit his sister who's birthday is Monday, Shawn Wadsworth told WSB-TV. The boy's birthday was last Thursday.
Wadsworth said he lives at the home and tried to rescue the boy when the fire erupted.
"When the smoke came at me, there was a flash whoo and it knocked me backwards," Wadsworth told WSB-TV. "So I opened the door again and I tried to dive under it. I did everything I could, but it wasn't enough."
The cause of the fire wasn't immediately known, Butts County Fire Chief Mike Wilson said.