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Lawnmower Explodes and Burns Down Johns Creek Home |
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 Danny Fendley started more than just his mower Tuesday afternoon when he tugged at the machine's pull chord.
He was in the garage of his two-story brick home in the north Atlanta suburb of Johns Creek when the machine exploded and burst into flames. Before Fendley could extinguish the fire, it had spread all over the garage.
"It's a goner," said Fulton County Fire Lt. Gregory Chambers, at the scene of the blaze. "There's not even one brick standing."
He has removed the mower's spark plug, to check it, when the mower wouldn't start right away. After replacing the plug, he stood over the mower, ready to try again.
 One final yank at the starter cord and . . .
"Poof! Flames just flared up at me," he said.
Fendley said he ran inside to grab something to put the flames out and tell his wife, Sabrina. But when he returned, the fire had spread too far to stop it.
As Fendley struggled with the blaze, he said his wife tried to toss a can of gasoline out a window. She missed.
"Gas spilled everywhere," he said.
Within 60 seconds, the conflagration had engulfed the house. At one point Fendley discovered his clothes were on fire, but his wife put out the flames with an extinguisher.
Before they fled, the couple successfully rescued their cats. No one was seriously hurt.
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