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‘Heroic’ Twiggs County deputies did all they could to save man in burning mobile home

As flames raged at one end of a burning mobile home, Twiggs County sheriff’s deputies did all they could to save a dying man inside who had been overcome by thick, choking smoke.

The officers, upon arriving at the engulfed trailer just after 7:45 a.m. Saturday, pried an opening in a locked door and, from the floor of a bedroom where the man had collapsed, tugged him outside.

Sgts. Jason Mullis and Joshua Fults along with deputy Tyler Perry swiftly began life-saving measures trying to save the life of 62-year-old Michael Curry.

Curry was later pronounced dead at a hospital, but not before Sheriff Darren Mitchum himself escorted an ambulance carrying Curry the 15 or so miles from the Huber area in eastern Twiggs to downtown Macon.

Speaking on Tuesday of his deputies’ efforts, Mitchum said, “I’m very proud of them. To them, it was all in a day’s work.”

The sheriff went on to say the “heroic action on their part” came “with no regard for their own safety” and was “very commendable.”

Video footage of the rescue try was recorded by the deputies’ body-cams.

The footage shows the deputies, calm and persistent, tugging at a locked door leading to Curry’s bedroom in a rush to pull him to safety.

Fire officials have said the dawn-hour blaze was sparked by an electric space heater left on in Curry’s living room.

Joe Kovac Jr.
The Telegraph
Joe Kovac Jr. writes about local news and features for The Telegraph, with an eye for human-interest stories. Joe is a Warner Robins native and graduate of Warner Robins High. He joined the Telegraph in 1991 after graduating from the University of Georgia. As a Pulliam Fellowship recipient in 1991, Joe worked for the Indianapolis News. His stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the Seattle Times and Atlanta Magazine. He has been a Livingston Award finalist and won numerous Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press awards.
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