Family Of 6 Escapes Fire
DETROIT (WWJ) - Several people, including children, are forced to jump to safety as fire burns through their southwest side apartment building this morning.
WWJ's Vickie Thomas, reporting live and local from the scene, spoke with witness Robin Gibson, who said there were some tense moments as fire raced through the Broderick Manor Apartments on Vinewood near West Vernor.
Gibson said the fire trapped a family of six inside their 4th floor apartment.
"We held the sheet and let the four children jump from the 4th floor all the way down," Gibson said. "The mother jumped out; the father stayed in there until the Fire Department came."
The effort didn't go quite as planned. Two of the children and the mother hit the cement on their way down. All three were all hospitalized in stable condition, later Monday.
Gibson said she was disappointed with the speed of emergency response.
"EMS took forever to come. They didn't come for maybe 20, 30 minutes after people had jumped, and we're talking from the fourth floor," she said.
The fire at Broderick Manor is believed to have started in a vacant unit. Residents said there was a fire there two months ago.
The fire's cause is under investigation.
