Woman jumps out third-floor window onto mattress to escape Somerville, Massachusetts apartment fire
A fire tore through an apartment building in Somerville, Massachusetts early Monday and one woman escaped by jumping out of a third-floor window and onto a mattress.
Flames broke out in the Somerville Housing Authority complex on Powder House Boulevard just before midnight. Several people were trapped, according to Fire Chief Charles Breen. The fire most likely started with an unattended candle, investigators said.
"Multiple people hanging out windows"
"We had a lot to contend with when we arrived," he told reporters. "There were multiple people hanging out windows, people screaming."
Firefighters rescued two of them from the third floor by ladder. Another person was found unconscious in a bathroom in a second-floor apartment where investigators believe the fire started. That person was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital in serious condition with burns and smoke inhalation.
"I mean, the flames coming out of this window, it looked like a movie," said neighbor Courtney O'Keefe.
In all of the chaos, a woman jumped out of a third-floor window to escape the fire. Chief Breen said they originally thought a neighbor dragged a mattress from the trash for her to jump onto. But it was actually the quick thinking of Jeffrey Rojo, who lives on the other side of the building. He pulled a mattress out of his home.
"We gotta do something because nobody is helping out the people, and the firefighters aren't here yet," Rojo said. "We ran inside and we took out the mattress and we did whatever we could to help."
"Also, a deputy chief helped break the woman's fall when she fell. I think that sort of prevented some more serious injuries from occurring," Breen said.
The chief said the woman, who has not been identified, was taken to a hospital and that her injuries "didn't appear to be too serious."
"Trying to do whatever we could to help"
"It was scary in that moment, but we were trying to do whatever we could to help, too," Rojo said.
One firefighter was hurt, but not seriously, according to Breen.
Neighbors are confident the community will step up to help the residents.
"This is really heartbreaking and our neighbors will be there for them for whatever they need," O'Keefe said.
The building is divided into three sections. The chief said the section where fire started is now "uninhabitable" and the people living in those nine apartments won't be allowed back in.