Clemson's Lannden Zanders Unhurt After Family Home Burns in Fire Pit Accident

Clemson defensive back Lannden Zanders is unhurt after a fire burned his family home in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. 

Per Todd Shanesy of the Greenville News, the house caught fire after Zanders built a fire pit in the backyard and later went to bed. 

Lannden's dad, Lindell Zanders, told Shanesy about the experience of getting a phone call from his son around 4:25 a.m. on Sunday morning. 

"Lannden was crying hysterically," Lindell said. "He was like, 'Daddy, the house is on fire. The house is burning down.' ... He said he went in the house and went to bed. When he woke up, the fire department was already there. He said his fan cut off and he opened his eyes and saw flames and smoke."

Shanesey noted the fire department turned off the power to the house as they were trying to combat the fire, which caused the fan to turn off. 

Images show that most of the house burned in the fire. The entire roof appears to have been lost. 

Lindell was able to joke about the situation, saying the fire gave the house an "open roof concept." He added that the most important thing was his son came out of this whole thing unharmed. 

"People say, ‘How are you smiling? I tell them it’s because my son is alive," Lindell said. "All this material stuff doesn’t matter to me. My boys are the reason I live. They are everything."

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney addressed the situation during his Monday press conference. 

"We’re lucky we didn’t lose him," Swinney told reporters about Zanders.

Zanders didn't travel with Clemson last week for its game against Pittsburgh because of an injury. He is in his junior season with the Tigers and has appeared in one game this season.