Two girls jumped out of a third-floor window moments before flames burst through their Georgia apartment, dramatic video shows.
The girls broke the glass after seeing smoke Tuesday, screaming as they
leaped out of the building in Sandy Springs, about 15 miles north of
Atlanta, according to video by 11 Alive.
A 17-year-old girl dove head-first out the window and a 6-year-old girl
followed her, falling into the arms of two neighbors below, resident
Thomas Lemon told My Fox Atlanta.
"They were frantic and they were crying and they were upset and you
could actually see the fire was approaching them, going from one
apartment to another apartment, getting closer and closer to them,"
witness Amber Vannoy told CBS46
Fire officials did not learn the girls' names, ages, relationship or
current conditions because of patient confidentiality laws, Sandy
Springs Fire Chief Keith Sanders told the Daily News.
The girls were transported with lacerations to a children's hospital,
where they were listed in stable condition Tuesday, Sanders said. They
were the only people injured.
The girls were so disoriented that they could not remember their mother's number, neighbors said.
The girls did the "smart thing" by exiting through the window instead of trekking through the smoke, Sanders said.
"That was the only way the girls could get out," Sanders said. "To
predict how people react, no matter if you're a teenager or an adult, is
impossible when they feel their lives have been threatened."
A resident accidentally started the fire about 1:20 p.m. by discarding a
burning cigarette in a box filled with paper in the back of the
building, Sanders said.
The flames soon spread to the roof, burning it off.
Twenty-nine people who lived there have been displaced, and they are receiving assistance from the Red Cross.
Sanders said he did not expect to file charges against the resident who started the fire.
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