Couple leaps 23 feet to escape Airbnb fire, both break backs in the process

CHATTAHOOCHEE HILLS, Ga. — A couple that rented an Airbnb in Chattahoochee Hills had to jump out of a third-story window to escape a fire that had engulfed the house.

It happened at 8:00 a.m. Sunday in Serenbe Community on Swann Ridge.

Three couples rented the home for a birthday weekend.

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Once the house caught fire, two of the couples made it out easily, but the couple in the upstairs bedroom was trapped.

The fire melted the stairway that led to the front door.

“It was 8:10 in the morning and heard a weird sound and thought it was like a tree falling or something. And it turned out to be the crackling of the back deck that was already totally engulfed in flames,” neighbor Dirk Botterbusch said.

Chattahoochee Hills Fire Chief Greg Brett said that’s where the fire started, somewhere on the back end of the house.

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“I arrived first on the scene to find a man and a woman having jumped from a window of the structure to escape the fire,” Brett said.

The man and the woman both broke their backs and are recovering at Grady Memorial Hospital.

“We know both individuals suffered a broken back, which required surgery, at least for one,” Brett said.

This is the 1st house fire in the Serenbe Community. The first house was built there in 2004.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the victims.

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