DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A fire at a DeKalb County apartment complex forced tenants to take some extreme measures to get to safety.
Three people jumped from the burning apartment building, and two were hurt as they escaped, Channel 2’s Steve Gehlbach reported.
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The fire happened around 1 a.m. at the Mirador Apartments off Brockett Road in Clarkston. The flames started on the lower level and spread.
It did not take long for firefighters to respond, as Fire Station 23 is right across the street. But flames were already shooting from the building and three people had already jumped when the responders arrived.
“When I wake up in my room, I found a lot of smoke in my house,” said resident Freddy Lumba.
Lumba saw fire blocking the route to escape as the fire climbed up the breezeway, so he went over his balcony and jumped down one floor to the ground.
“I was obligated to run and then jump because I live upstairs. So, I don’t know, I saw the fire so I don’t know where the fire come,” he said.
Another man who jumped had a broken leg, and a woman was cut jumping to safety.
Two others, a man and a woman in another top floor apartment, also jumped from a window. From the back of the building, that would be the third floor.
“There was one male that jumped from a window that sustained an injury, think it’s a possible broken leg,” said Capt. Jaeson Daniels with DeKalb County Fire Rescue.
She had cuts to her foot. Both were taken to the hospital as firefighters were able to keep the flames from spreading to the rest of the building.
And thankfully didn’t need to rescue anyone. They all made it out safely.
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