By Patty Leon
Coastal Courier (Hinesville, GA) Staff Writer
pleon@coastalcourier.com

A Liberty County teen is credited with saving herself and her three brothers from a mobile home fire Wednesday in Gum Branch that appears to have been started by their mother, according to law enforcement authorities.
The children’s father, John Barnard, was also at home at the time of the incident and also escaped the early morning blaze.
Their mother, Julie Lynette Barnard, 39, of Statesboro, also made her way to safety and is now being held at the Liberty County jail.
According to initial reports released by State Fire Marshal spokesman Glenn Allen, Julie Barnard started the fire at her estranged husband’s home, 103 Dolly Jane Lane, at about 4 a.m.
Statements by John Barnard indicated Julie Barnard arrived at the house Tuesday to pick up the children and take them back to her home for the summer.
He said she asked to stay the night and head out the next morning because she was tired.
At about 4 a.m. he awoke to find flames and smoke billowing from the bottom of his bedroom door. With nowhere else to go, he forced an air conditioning unit from a window and escaped the blaze.
Once outside, he ran to the opposite side of the mobile home toward the children’s bedroom, heard a window break and saw them begin to make their way to safety.
According to Liberty County sheriff’s deputies, John Barnard waited until everyone was out of the residence and then went to his father’s house next door to call 911.
Julie Barnard reportedly took the children to Liberty Regional Medical Center and then left.
When Liberty County Fire Investigator James Ashdown interviewed the siblings, he determined there was enough information to indicate the fire was deliberate and contacted the state fire marshal.
“The daughter, 16, informed us she and her brothers, 11, 13 and 14, woke up when they heard the smoke detector go off,” Allen said. “She told us that Julie Barnard gathered them together in the bedroom and asked them to pray instead of leaving.”
Her daughter reportedly decided to break a window instead and take her brothers out to safety.
The teen suffered serious cuts that required surgery. Her brothers received minor cuts and injuries, officials said.
“... State Fire Marshal John Oxendine credits the 16-year-old daughter with saving the lives of her sibling brothers,” Allen said during a phone interview with the Courier. “She had the sense of doing the right thing.”
Warrants were issued for Julie Barnard late Wednesday afternoon for arson in the first degree and five counts of aggravated assault.

Officials from Liberty and Bulloch counties, and surrounding communities were provided with the suspect’s description and vehicle information. The state fire marshal’s office also issued a warning advising Julie Barnard was considered a danger to herself and others.
According to Sgt. Sal Genualdi of the Ludowici Police Department, an anonymous tip was called in at 8:56 p.m. stating someone fitting Barnard’s description was seen wearing a black T-shirt and jeans around the Oakridge Cemetery.
Officer Jimmy Downs made contact with Barnard and by 8:59 p.m. she was detained at the Ludowici Police Station. 
Genauldi said Barnard did not resist the officers and informed them she was just walking home to freshen up and afterwards she was going to go back to the cemetery to kill herself.
She reportedly told police she threw a pistol into the wood line before Downs arrived. 
Early Thursday morning, Genualdi searched for the pistol, but had not found it.
Also on Thursday, John Barnard’s nephew, who declined to give his name, visited what used to be his uncle’s home and stared at the charred remains in disbelief.
“This was my grandmother’s house before my uncle moved in,” he said. “The family just finished paying for it not long ago.”
He said the block of mobile homes along Dolly Jane Drive belong to members of John Barnard’s family.
“I know they were going through hard times with the separation and divorce, but I would never think Julie would do this. Then again, you never know when someone is going to finally snap,” Barnard’s nephew said.
The Department of Family and Children Services is currently caring for the Barnards’ three sons. Their daughter continues to recuperate at the hospital.

Freelance writer Mike Riddle contributed information regarding the apprehension of Julie Barnard. Lewis Levine also provided information.