EAST COBB - Julia Love has delivered newspapers for the Marietta Daily Journal for a year, but never thought she'd help make news as she did on Sunday when she reported an occupied house on fire.

Julia Love was on her route with her husband, Norris Love, on Craig Court off Old Canton Road at about 5:20 a.m. when she noticed the two-story house on fire.

"It looked like only the back and side of the house were on fire. You could see smoke coming out of the windows," she said.

As Julia Love called 911, she said her husband ran to the front door to see if anyone was inside, but the flames "went up even more" and windows were breaking.

Meanwhile, the Cobb 911 center notified the fire department that they received a cell phone call from inside the burning home.

According to the Cobb Fire report, "Only muffled moans could be heard" over the phone from inside the house.

With the help of Global Positioning System technology and the 911 operator, fire crews located Robert Gruel about 150 feet behind the house in a wooded area. He had escaped the burning home.

"Due to very steep terrain, personnel used a Stokes basket with assistance from a rope tag-line to remove the victim," the report stated. "The victim was transported by Metro Ambulance to North Fulton Hospital."

Gruel was discovered "incoherent, very confused and disoriented," said Cobb Fire spokesman Lt. Dan Dupree at the time. Gruel told firefighters that the rest of his family was out of town.

Joanna Stotter of the North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell said Gruel was released from the hospital the same day he was checked in.

The fire's cause is still being investigated, Dupree said.

The home, at 2783 Craig Court, was a total loss.