Residents Hang From Windows To Escape Detroit Apartment Fire
DETROIT (WWJ) - It was a frightful and dramatic morning for nearly two dozen families living in a west side Detroit apartment building that went up in smoke but officials say luckily, no one was seriously injured.
The fire took off around 6 a.m. Thursday at the Barclay Manor Apartments on Schaefer just south of 8 Mile Road.
Officials say the blaze started in the basement, possibly due to a faulty stove, and smoke quickly filled the building. Firefighters arrived to find residents hanging from windows in the three-story complex.
Quincy Byrant, who has lived in the complex for about two years, said his first instinct was to run back into the building after making sure his family was safe.
"Through the smoke I pushed through and helped grabbed a man, he's in the hospital now, and anybody else," Byrant told WWJ's Charlie Langton. "There was kids, different people down there, we got our kids out of there and we survived, that's all that matters. Everybody's out, we hope everybody is safe and blessed."
Byrant said he and other residents lent a helping hand to the firefighters, too.
"I heard the firefighter saying he was on his leg, you know, I grabbed the guy and helped pull him up, you know what I'm saying," Byrant said. "I helped the firefighters. We helped each other. They here to help us but we help them too, we've got to."
Three people were taken to the hospital with injuries described as "not serious," including a woman in her 80s.
The American Red Cross is now on the scene, assisting about 20 families that have been displaced.
The fire remains under investigation.
