Elderly Memphis Man Dies in House Fire

(MEMPHIS)  An elderly man has died in a Raleigh house fire despite a rescue attempt by his grandson.

Friends identify the victim as George Brack, and say his wife got out safely.

The victims grandson pulled up to the house to find smoke and flames coming out of the roof. He ran in to try to pull his grandfather to safety but had to come back out and get the help of three other friends.

“He wasn’t breathing but he had a pulse though. That’s all I knew,” said Tyrus Durham.

Durham was one of the men who ran into the burning house on Winwood to help rescue seventy-nine year old Brack.

“We just brung him outside and stuff. His sister and them were pumping on him and stuff trying to get him to breathe,” said Durham.

Friends say Brack was in the bed and hard of hearing.  Once paramedics got to the house they tried to resuscitate Brack. He was pronounced dead about an hour later at the hospital. Lt. Wayne Cooke says Bracks’ elderly wife got out of the house safely.

“We have not been able to get much information from her at this time. All we know is she was on the exterior of th house when we arrived.  She did not suffer any smoke inhalation at all,” said Lt. Cooke.

Over forty firefighters worked the scene. Sandra McGee watched as they tried to save Brack with CPR.

“I was amazed at how they kept working on him. They didn’t give they just kept working on him and working on him and working on him. It just made me feel so good to see their dedication,” said McGee.

Lt. Cooke says 10 people lived in this house and it is a total loss, and the Memphis Fire Department is investigating the cause of the fire.