By Christian Boone
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A large sinkhole cost firefighters precious seconds Saturday afternoon as they attempted to rescue a Norcross woman trapped in a burning apartment.
The woman, 44-year-old Heather Bennett, died of smoke and soot inhalation, said Ted Bailey, chief forensic investigator with the Gwinnett Medical Examiner’s Office.
Gwinnett County fire crews arrived a little before 5 p.m. at the Barrington Hills Apartments, in the 3400 block of Chelsea Park Lane, but their trucks had to take an alternate route into the complex due to the sinkhole at the main entrance into the complex, fire department spokesman Lt. Eric Eberly said.
“It cost us an extra minute, minute-and-a-half,” Eberly told the AJC. “Seconds count in any kind of emergency.”
Bennett was unconscious when rescuers pulled her from the apartment. She died soon after at a local hospital. Despite the roadblock, crews were able to contain the blaze to the victim’s apartment.
Copyright 2010 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution