A fire destroyed a Southeast Fresno apartment unit and displaced seven people after a fire broke out around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday.
The fire started in a downstairs unit but quickly spread upstairs at a two-story apartment complex on E. Nevada Ave. near First St. and Tulare Ave.
Firefighters responded quickly and were able to rescue three people who were trapped in an upstairs unit just as they were getting ready to jump out the window.
"My neighbor came downstairs banging on the door and she told me to please call 911. I said why, and I look out my back door and it was flaming so bad. I was more worried about the people that were in there. I didn't know if they were still in there," said Reba Markham, who called 911.
The woman in the downstairs unit was able to get out and was treated for smoke inhalation at Community Regional Medical Center.
The fire busted her window and spread upstairs.
"All these units share a common stairwell, and so that stairwell was blocked by thick, black, toxic smoke. And so the occupants on the second story were unable to get themselves out through the stairwell," said Koby Johns with the Fresno Fire Department.
The window was the only way out for these three adults. When firefighters arrived, they found a matterss on the ground as the adults were getting ready to jump.
"We threw down the mattress, we were going to jump, but the firefighters were already here with the ladder and we just climbed down the ladder," said Song Va, who was rescued.
Before getting out, her family threw their pets out the window to safety, Va said. Neighbors caught the two kittens and a hamster in a cage.
The cause of the fire is being investigated. It caused about $75,000 worth of damage, according to the Fresno Fire Department.
Besides the one person being treated for smoke inhalation, no one else was injured.
The fire started in a downstairs unit but quickly spread upstairs at a two-story apartment complex on E. Nevada Ave. near First St. and Tulare Ave.
Firefighters responded quickly and were able to rescue three people who were trapped in an upstairs unit just as they were getting ready to jump out the window.
"My neighbor came downstairs banging on the door and she told me to please call 911. I said why, and I look out my back door and it was flaming so bad. I was more worried about the people that were in there. I didn't know if they were still in there," said Reba Markham, who called 911.
The woman in the downstairs unit was able to get out and was treated for smoke inhalation at Community Regional Medical Center.
The fire busted her window and spread upstairs.
"All these units share a common stairwell, and so that stairwell was blocked by thick, black, toxic smoke. And so the occupants on the second story were unable to get themselves out through the stairwell," said Koby Johns with the Fresno Fire Department.
The window was the only way out for these three adults. When firefighters arrived, they found a matterss on the ground as the adults were getting ready to jump.
"We threw down the mattress, we were going to jump, but the firefighters were already here with the ladder and we just climbed down the ladder," said Song Va, who was rescued.
Before getting out, her family threw their pets out the window to safety, Va said. Neighbors caught the two kittens and a hamster in a cage.
The cause of the fire is being investigated. It caused about $75,000 worth of damage, according to the Fresno Fire Department.
Besides the one person being treated for smoke inhalation, no one else was injured.