Residents jump from window to flee apartments as blaze blocks stairwell
One person died and four others, including a baby, escaped from an upstairs window as flames ripped through portions of an apartment complex early Friday morning in Pasadena.
The one- alarm fire broke out about 4 a.m. in the 2000 block of Burke near Pasadena Boulevard, said Pasadena Fire Marshal David Brannon.
Firefighters arrived to heavy smoke and flames in an upstairs apartment at the two-story building. As the flames raced through the units, a mother dropped her baby to safety into the arms of police officers on the ground below. The mother, 26, then jumped, and the officers caught her, too. The baby, about 5 months old, was not hurt in the fall.
Two other people jumped out of the window to escape the flames, Brannon said.
The man who died at the scene lived in an apartment next to the mother and child. The identity of the man, thought to be in his 50s, has not been released.
Some of the injured were rushed to Memorial Hermann Hospital by two LifeFlight medical helicopters with cuts and smoke inhalation. Their conditions were not released. The baby is expected to be fine.
Brannon said police officers who first arrived at the scene did an excellent job helping residents. He said flames and smoke blocked the lone stairwell leading to two upper units, and the only way for the tenants to quickly escape the fastmoving flames was to jump from the second-story window. Initially, the mother did not want to drop her child out of the window, but officers coaxed her to do so.
“Kudos go out to them,” Brannon said.
Investigators are trying to determine what sparked the blaze.