Georgia assistant and family escape Wednesday night house fire
Instead of going to bed early like he normally does, Georgia assistant strength and conditioning coach Gus Felder decided to stay up to read and watch television on Wednesday night. That turned out to be a huge decision.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Felder noticed a strange smell around 11 and discovered a small fire underneath the dryer in the laundry room on the second floor of the house he rents.
After getting his family – his wife and five children – out of the house, Felder located a fire extinguisher, but it didn’t work. He phoned the fire department as the fire intensified, consuming the laundry room. Once the fire was contained, the second floor, including the room shared by his three youngest children, “sustained major heat, smoke and water damage.”
Felder's children lost their clothes and toys, but no one was hurt.
“Everybody’s safe now,” said Felder, who doesn’t think he would have smelled the fire if he hadn’t stayed awake. “It’s just the grace of God the way it worked out.”
For now, the Felders moved in with fellow assistant strength coach John Thomas before trying to find “something a little more permanent.”
A local church has set up a gofundme campaign to held the family in their efforts to re-locate.
Despite the turmoil the fire has caused, Felder is thankful that everyone is OK.
“We’ve always had a little plan for emergencies and that worked out great,” Felder said. “My kids did great, my wife did a great job. So we made it, thank God.”
For more Georgia news, visit UGASports.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
