Chickamauga, GA – Four months after suffering critical burns in a fire that destroyed his Worthington Gap Road home, Rickey Rhodes has been reunited with his family. Rhodes was greeted by family, friends and first responders upon his arrival in Walker County this afternoon.
Rhodes had been hospitalized at Vanderbilt Medical Center since December 11, as he recovered from his injuries. Rhodes and five other family members escaped the blaze after working smoke alarms inside the home activated and warned the family of the fire.
Brittany Mitchell, who was 31-weeks pregnant at the time, was first to hear a smoke alarm. She grabbed her 2-year-old son Alex and woke her 9-year-old brother Devin Wooten.
“All I could see was flames,” Devin said. “I jumped up on a couch and then ran across a burning table out the back door. I was screaming and I could hear the smoke alarms. At first I thought it was a dream.”
The fire started in the living room of the home, where a Christmas tree had been left on overnight. The cause of the fire was ruled as electrical.
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