By Yolanda Rodriguez
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
AUSTELL, Ga. — As fire raced through the Magnolia Crossing apartments in Austell early Wednesday, residents threw what was most precious to them out of windows and over balconies — their children.
"My daughter was all I grabbed," Aracely Mata, 27, said.
Mata threw her 2-month-old baby from her third-floor apartment into the waiting arms of neighbors as smoke and flames enveloped her.
The baby was OK, smiling and yawning Wednesday in a neighbor's arms.
Fire officials believe the blaze started in a sofa that a resident moved out to the breezeway while carpet was being installed, said Lt. Dan Dupree. The fire is believed to be accidental, Dupree said.
It destroyed 10 apartments. A dozen people were taken to local hospitals.
By Wednesday afternoon, all but three had been released. Jorge Maldonado was in good condition at WellStar Douglas Hospital in Douglasville.
Silvia Vargas and Carol Vargas were in stable condition at Grady Memorial Hospital.
Zakia Dorsey, 28, threw her girlfriend's son and daughter and her two nephews out of the windows.
Neighbors waited in the bushes to catch the children, ages 6 through 12.
"It was just a reaction to the kids," Dorsey said. "I tossed them one by one."
Then, she pushed her girlfriend, Brenda Jackson, out the window.
Dorsey was the last one out. Her right ankle broke when she fell to the ground.
"I'm scared of heights," Dorsey said. "But it's either you die or you live."
Norberto Ozuna, 42, heard the lights in the breezeway break about 2 a.m. The Cobb County Fire Department got the call at 2:25 a.m., Dupree said.
When Ozuna opened the door, smoke filled his home. His screams joined the shouts of others who were scrambling for their lives.
No one was dead, Ozuna said, a "blessing from God."
On Wednesday, many of the residents walked gingerly through the charred and wet debris, hoping to salvage what they could.
Residents said they were relocated to other units in the complex.
Jackson, 34, watched the activity from a lawn chair.
On Tuesday night, she received news that her 79-year-old mother had died in Moultrie. Hours later, everything she owned went up in flames.
"I just feel lost. I lost my mom," Jackson said. "I just lost everything else. We don't have anything. But I do have my kids and my family."
Copyright 2008 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
