WEST VALLEY CITY — Twelve people escaped a burning apartment complex Wednesday, including a mother who held her 3-month-old child as she jumped from a second-story window.
Fire officials say the blaze broke out just after 3 a.m. in the main stairwell at the front of the four-plex near 4100 South and 4800 West, preventing tenants from escaping through their front doors.
The building's manager knocked on doors and tried to get residents out, and then backed his car onto the lawn, right underneath a second story window, to help people escape.
"I heard screaming: 'Get out of there! There's a fire!' I went to the front room. I saw flames, opened up the front door. Shouldn't have. Flames just shot straight in. I shut the door and told everybody to get out," apartment manager Jerimy Vialpando told KSL.
Two people were transported to local hospitals with minor smoke inhalation, according to fire crews at the scene. Six people were injured in all, including one person who was cut while trying to break his window to escape.
"I was probably the last person to leave the apartments. I was frying," Ruinold Chee told KSL after breaking his window and escaping. "I heard my friends screaming 'Ruinold! Ruinold! Get out, Ruinold, get out!' So I was like, OK, here I go. I busted the window and got out."
The Red Cross is helping the 12 displaced tenants.
The dramatic scene became even more heroic when firefighters going through the apartment found an unconscious dog. Crews brought the dog out and laid it on the ground, initially believing there was little they could do because the dog was not moving, according to West Valley firefighter Kevin Condie. But when the dog started twitching, rescue crews quickly provided oxygen and were able to revive him, helping him regain enough strength that he was handed back over to his grateful owner.
The cause of the fire was unknown Wednesday. A room containing water heaters and the primary electrical box for the complex is located in the main stairwell.
e-mail: preavy@desnews.com