Wrong Turn by GPS Puts Alabama Driver at Georgia Home Fire, Saving 14 People

A navigation app's stubborn rerouting led an Alabama driver to a burning house in Georgia on the night of 17 October, where he helped a couple and the 12 children in their care escape the flames, according to the family and their rescuer.

Casey Sparks, 37, of Concorde, Alabama, told the Guardian on Monday that he and his 13-year-old son, Cason, were returning from a softball tournament in Dalton, Georgia. His GPS kept directing him toward the community of Lyerly, about 40 miles south-west of Dalton, even though the pair had passed through nearby Chattanooga, Tennessee, on the way to the event. "It kept pointing me in that direction," Sparks said. "We ended up going like it wanted us to, and I'm so thankful."

In Lyerly, Sparks saw the roof of the home of James and Larita Burke on fire, with the flames moving through the rest of the structure. He stopped outside, told his son to stay in the truck and call for emergency help, and ran to a side door with another passerby who had also pulled over. Sparks later learned the lock on that door had been broken and never repaired.

Sparks entered after meeting a teenager who, in an evident panic, had grabbed a hose pot to try to douse the fire. The teen said others were inside, so Sparks went in while the second passerby stayed with Cason. He found James Burke asleep in a recliner and woke him. Burke told television station WRCB that he only stirred because he sensed a stranger telling him: "Hey, you've got to get out of here. Your house is on fire."

Sparks then carried out the Burkes' granddaughter, described by independent good news journalist Rick Karle as blind and 10 years old. Rather than wait for first responders, he went back in to lead Larita Burke out, and did the same for many more children, some of whom had disabilities or special needs. Burke said Sparks also helped firefighters reach the scene.

The house collapsed and the family's three vehicles were destroyed, but no one was physically hurt. The cause of the fire had not been immediately determined. "If it had been another five minutes, it would've been a different situation," Larita Burke told WRCB. "We wouldn't have made it."

Sparks said that after firefighters controlled the blaze, he and Cason drove home to Alabama mostly in silence. He recalled his son saying, "Daddy, I wasn't ready for that," and replying, "Me neither." Sparks said he believes divine intervention put him in the right place. "Everything that lined up for me to be there when I was, there's no other explanation," he said. "It was God. That's it."

The Burkes, who said they had fostered more than 500 children in their home over the 15 years before the fire, told WRCB they were struggling to accept the loss of their belongings but were uplifted by community support. As of Monday morning, a fundraiser organized by James Burke's sister, Renia Evans, had raised more than $11,000 to help the family of 14 find a rental house large enough for them while their home is replaced or rebuilt.

Sparks said he has stayed in touch with the Burkes and was glad to see the public rally behind them. "That family is amazing," he said. A statement attributed to Evans said the family would forever be grateful for his courage and selflessness. James Burke struck a resilient note: "We are traumatized, of course, but you know what? We're gonna turn this page, and we're gonna get on with our lives because we have so much to live for. All of our babies made it out."