Mesa firefighters save more than 2 dozen people from burning complex
Jan 31, 2019, 4:45 AM | Updated: 11:20 am
PHOENIX — Firefighters with the Mesa Fire Department are being called heroes after they rescued more than two dozen residents from a burning apartment complex earlier this month.
Twelve people had to be rescued from windows and balconies due to heavy smoke and fire conditions, and another 12 were displaced from their apartment, but were rehoused in the same complex.
One person was treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire occurred around 9 a.m. on Jan. 12 in the area of Broadway and Dobson roads.
One survivor, Vicky Westman, who was with her 3-year old daughter and mother, said she barely made it out of the apartment alive.
“I hear my mom wake up and she smelled smoke and at that point, she knocked on my door really hard and said, ‘Vicky, I smell something, something’s not right,'” she said.
“We just opened the door and that’s when flames kind of exploded, almost into my mom’s face.”
Westman said she was trying to get out as fast as she could.
“Smoke was just everywhere. I couldn’t even see my bed that was maybe three feet behind me. So then I tried opening up the window and the first time it jammed.”
She escaped through a window with her daughter and mother.
“I was holding my daughter out the window, so she can get fresh air because the whole room was covered in smoke.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
