Jan 4, 2008 4:13 pm US/Central
Apartment Fire Residents Jump For Their Lives
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
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A 4-alarm blaze raged at the Aspen Chase Apartments in Dallas, forcing some residents to jump off balconies to escape the flames.
KTVT / KTXA
Intense flames tear through a Dallas apartment complex, forcing residents to take drastic measures to save their own lives.
The fire broke out early Friday morning at the Aspen Chase Apartment Complex on Ferguson Road.
Some residents jumped from 3rd story apartments to escape the flames. Those residents say they were absolutely terrified but grateful their neighbors were below to catch them.
The fast moving fire swept through doorways and made hallways impassable. For some residents, trying to escape the flames, jumping off the balcony seemed to be the only option.
"It was one family on the third floor, one of her granddaughters and her daughter jumped off the balcony because the fire was at their front door and they couldn't get out," apartment resident Alice Abdullah explained.
Fire victims turned into heroes by making a safety net out of blankets for residents to jump into.
"They was like jump. But I missed it [the blanket] because I couldn't see nobody," said fire victim Gloria Jackson. "My head and my body hit the second floor, and when I landed I landed face down."
Jackson was one of four people injured in the four-alarm fire. Her mother and daughter are recovering in local hospitals. She says it will take her awhile to recover from the sheer terror of jumping for her life. "I was really thinking about my kids… they're too young. Never thought we would have to go through this."
The American Red Cross is helping to house more than 20 people displaced by the fire.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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