Kennesaw State University police officer suffers severe burns in house fire

CARTERSVILLE, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A Kennesaw State police officer is fighting for his life after his Cartersville home burned down on Thursday.

Lieutenant Robert Milam was sleeping when he heard a crackling noise in another room. He went to see what it was, and realized it was a fire. He had to go back to his bedroom to save his fiancée, Misty.

“It had gotten a lot bigger and the only way I could get back to Misty to get her out was to go through it. It all happened so fast. I wasn’t feeling anything at the time,” said Milam.

She got out uninjured, but the lieutenant was left with severe burns.

Milam said the burns cover nearly 22% of his body.

“I do have some burns on my face. The worst part were my feet, the bottoms of my feet, and the top and my hands, pretty much all of my hands, both of my arms have burns,” he said.

This holiday season will look different, but he’s thankful to be alive.

“It’s kind of disappointing that all the cool Christmas gifts that I got Misty is gone but it’s ok,” said Milam.

Milan isn’t focusing on what he lost.

“I’m glad Misty’s okay. I hate that our house all of our stuff got burned up but, you know, it is what it is, you can’t go back and change that,” said Milam. “There is nothing that can be done that can change the past. We can only move forward.”

Milam is still looking for his pets, who may have escaped.

If you would like to help Milam and his family on his road to recovery, you can learn more here.

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