Neighbor describes moment she called 911 during Albany fire

ALBANY, GA (WALB) - Shock and confusion have been the reactions from neighbors that live next door to where two children were killed, and another child found hurt, but alive in the trunk of a car.

MORE: South Georgia fire investigated as homicide, two children dead

Sarah McCary woke up around 5:15 Wednesday morning to find the home next door on fire.

"When I opened the door I immediately heard some crackling but it didn't readily register that it was fire," said McCary. "I thought it was some animals kind of moving around outside."

But McCary was sadly mistaken, there were no animals this time.

"It wasn't so much the smell, but it was the sound," explained McCary. "It was the sound of the fire, and even from that sound you knew it was a big fire, it was an aggressive fire."

That horrific sight prompted her to act.

"I dropped everything. Ran back into the house, alerted my parents who were inside and I called 911," said McCary.

But she didn't stop there, both her and another woman driving by rushed to the house.

"I ran over there and the person that stopped that came over," explained McCary. "She was banging on the window as well."

McCary has lived in the neighborhood for seven years and she's only seen a man who's typically very private leave the home.

She didn't know kids were staying there until six weeks ago when the police came over to ask her questions about a 911 hangup.

MORE: Neighbors grieve after children killed

That's when McCary found out that a young girl lived in the home. And as mother, she did the only thing that was within her grasp.

"The first thing I did when I saw my son, I hugged him," said McCary.

Sadly, one family won't get to do that.

"We will never know what they could've grown up to be. What they could have changed in Albany, in our lives, in anyone that they meet," explained McCary. "But we won't know because someone snuffed them out before their time."

McCary said that her 8-year-old son saw the fire, but they haven't talked about it much, but she plans to answer any questions he may have.

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