3 Hospitalized Due To Fire At Del Paso Heights Senior Apartments
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — At least three people were hospitalized after a fire broke out at a senior apartment complex in Del Paso Heights on Thursday.
The scene was near the intersection of Grand Avenue and Rio Linda Boulevard at the Woodhaven Senior Residence.
Heavy flames filled the ground floor and bystanders jumped in to rescue several residents as the hallway filled with smoke, officials said.
"They kept saying, 'Fire, fire, fire, get out,' " Rhoda Wilson said.
But Wilson couldn't get out. Trapped by thick black smoke inside her apartment, the only path to safety was over the patio fence - but she couldn't climb over it.
"I didn't know how I was going to get out," Wilson said. "It was scary."
That's when neighbors like Crystal Burns rushed to help evacuate Wilson and about 20 other people from the burning building.
"We put her in the chair and we lifted her over and we saved some other people up the stairs until the fire chief came," Burns said. "I'm still shaking. I think I'm more shaken about the fact that they was [sic] going to drop me."
Sacramento Fire says they called a second-alarm response to the scene and ladders were needed to get trapped residents off the second floor.
Further details on the three injured people were not available. Several others were treated at the scene.
"We had about 60 firefighters arrive to help limit this fire to the unit of origin and no one, thankfully, lost their life," one firefighter said.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
"It is so great for the fire department to know that we can rely on good neighbors and other community members to look out for each other because a lot of times they are the first responders, they're there, it's happening," the firefighter said.
The Red Cross is assisting those displaced by the fire.
