3 children plunge from burning apartments
 Dora Meza |
"I took the risk because flames were burning through the wall," the mother, Dora Meza, said in Spanish.
Two women who jumped from a third-floor balcony of the apartment building were not as lucky - both of them remain at Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
And about half of the apartment complex's residents now remain without a home because of the extensive damage caused by the fire.
Dora said she, her children and her sister ran out onto the balcony to escape the flames Saturday night. But once there, they became trapped as the fire spread through the wall behind them.
Dora said her sister jumped off the balcony first, landing safely. Then she talked to her children and told them there was only one way out - and they had to make the leap.
Then Dora dropped her children, aged 3, 5 and 7, into the arms of her sister and others below who saw what was happening and came to help.
Dora was about to jump next. But just then, employees of the Silver Dollar Casino next door got a ladder to her. She made it down safely.
About 100 other residents of the 48-unit apartment complex also were evacuated when the three-alarm fire swept through the building, spewing huge flames into the black sky, said David Nelson, spokesman for the Skyway Fire Department.
Nelson said several people were treated for minor injuries, in addition to the two women who remain at Harborview. One man who was admitted to Harborview with burns on Saturday has been released, he said.
About half of the Emerald Place Apartments, on the building's south side, remain uninhabitable after the fire, Nelson said.
One-fourth of those units suffered extensive damage, while another quarter of the units suffered structural damage. Nelson said the structural damage included smoke, water and roof damage.
Residents of units with structural damage only are being escorted inside to retrieve valuables. But residents of units with extensive damage were unable to enter them, and firefighters are retrieving valuables for them.
Apartments on the complex's northern side are considered livable and residents will be allowed to return as soon as power is restored, Nelson said.
One resident of the apartment complex, Chris Polo, said the scene was chaotic as flames roared through the building night about 7 p.m.
Polo said he grabbed his son, pets and clothes, and left his first-floor apartment to the flames.
"We were just watching some TV and all of a sudden -- banging on the door 'get out now, grab what you can!' It's crazy," he said.
Nelson said a firefighter suffered minor injuries, but was allowed to remain on the scene battling the blaze. Some 75 firefighters responded to the blaze from south King County.
The fire broke out at the complex at 6:56 p.m. and when firefighters reached the apartments in the 3100 block of South 192nd two minutes later, flames had already engulfed several units.
The reason all the residents had to evacuate the complex was because the entire building lost its power, Nelson said.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, and the cause may not be known until Tuesday, Nelson said.
He said he didn't know if the units had sprinklers, and it was too early to make a damage estimate, but the apartment complex was valued at $1 million.