JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A father and son are out of the hospital after narrowly escaping a fire that destroyed their Northside home last Friday.
"He was standing up waving his arms and I ran into, tackled him to the ground. And we went to crawling toward the door," said Vernon King Sr.
The 52-year-old and his 14-year-old son, Vernon King Jr., spent several days in the burn unit at UF Health in Gainesville after their home on Begonia Road in Northwest Jacksonville caught fire around 10 a.m. Friday.
Investigators believe the fire was accidental, and that if the two victims had been in the house a minute or two longer, they would not have survived.
The son said he woke up on the couch in total darkness -- his home filled with pitch black smoke. He started screaming for his father, who was sleeping in the back room on the other side of the home. His dad came running to help, and then crawled getting him. They made their way to the door but they said they couldn't even see it because the smoke was so thick.
"I didn't even think we were going to make it out of there," said Vernon King Jr. "I thought we weren't going to be able to get the door open When I reached up to grab the knob, my hand, it just disappeared in the smoke."
The father said it was so hot that his arm was instantly scorched with third-degree burns. The heat also burned the top of his head. His son's hands received second-degree burns.
"I was asking God for our lives, to save us," said Vernon King Jr.
Within a minute or two, they made it out of front door and the burglar bars.
They lost everything, including their pet cat. The home they just inherited was ruined and they didn't have insurance. But this father and son say they have a lot to be thankful for.
"He saved my life. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have gotten out of there," said Vernon King Jr.
The father and son only have the clothes they were given from the hospital. The Red Cross has them in a hotel the next three days, but after that, they have no place to go.
A relative set up to accounts for donations: gofundme.com/kingfam or the King Family account at VyStar, no. 7505079096.