COLLEGE PARK, Ga. — A College Park apartment complex was heavily damaged by fire on Sunday, leaving many residents displaced, but lives were spared because of a resident’s quick action.
Firefighters were called to the complex twice in one day to battle the blaze that completely ravaged a building at Harvard Place Apartments. Resident Michael Jackson made sure the loss was not worse.
“The military taught me to don’t leave nobody behind and I wasn’t going to leave anybody in that building. I wasn’t,” Jackson said. He ran into the burning building time and time again, frantically knocking on doors and windows, getting people out.
The intensity of the fire continued to grow and left Jackson with few options to escape. He jumped to safety from a second-story balcony.
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“Even though I had to jump, I feel good because ain’t nobody going to a funeral,” Jackson said.
“We ran twice from that fire,” longtime resident Carol King said referencing the fire department’s second visit to the apartments. She witnessed her neighbor as he worked to save others in the building.
“He didn’t stop ‘til he knew everybody was across that fence,” King said.
The Red Cross has been assisting residents. Most of the homes were a total loss. Donations are being accepted online.
Officials said they think the fire started in a downstairs unit but the cause not been released.
Cox Media Group
