By Jakob Rodgers
The Gazette
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Grabbing a ladder off his company truck, a phone repairman saved a woman Monday who was trapped on her second-story balcony by flames that quickly engulfed the adjoining apartment.
“It was surreal; I couldn’t believe it was happening,” said Mike Burns, a Qwest employee.
Firefighters are blaming an electrical problem in a stove for the blaze, which destroyed one apartment and sent smoke billowing into nearby units of the Berkshire Apartments, 1680 Dortmund Drive.
Sherry Taylor, who lives next to the apartment where the fire started shortly before noon, said she noticed smoke seeping under her door and her next-door neighbor running from his apartment while carrying a cat.
She looked out her peephole but saw only black, leaving her to run to her balcony.
“It was so quick,” Taylor said. “That place burned like a tinderbox.”
Hearing screams, Burns, who was working on telephone lines damaged in a fire at the complex six months ago, ran to the apartment, grabbing a ladder from his company’s vehicle on the way.
“It almost didn’t reach, but then she came over the railing,” Burns said.
Arriving to find flames shooting from the building, firefighters used a water cannon from an engine to douse most of the blaze before extinguishing the rest by hand.
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries, along with an off-duty police officer who noticed the blaze and rushed to help residents get out of the building.
In all, nearly 50 firefighters were called to fight the fire, arriving in five engines, four trucks and nine other vehicles.
The fire caused an estimated $250,000 in damage to the building, said Lt. J.J. Halsey, Fire Department spokesman.
Monday’s fire was contained to one apartment.
The scene summoned memories of another fire at the complex in March that damaged eight apartments.
No one was seriously injured in the March fire, but 15 people were displaced.
Fire Marshal Keith Buckmiller said the fires do not appear to be connected - the one in March started in an electrical junction box at a separate building in the complex.
Neither Taylor nor Burns were injured in Monday’s blaze, though Burns added he may have picked up the ladder a little to quickly.
“I am so sore it’s not even funny,” said Burns, with a smile.
Copyright 2010 ProQuest Information and Learning
All Rights Reserved
ProQuest SuperText
Copyright 2010 Freedom Newspapers, Inc.