LAKEWOOD, Wa — Neighbors said they were screaming for a woman in her 60s to jump from her second floor Lakewood apartment balcony as flames trapped her in Friday morning.
“She told me, ‘Oh my God!’ She was scared but I said, 'Jump! Jump!’ and she was like, ‘No I don’t want to jump!’” said neighbor Margarita Tellez.
The flames consumed six apartment units and displaced eight people.
But all people could focus on was the woman perilously perched on her balcony.
“She was scared to jump, but we told her, ‘You can only jump!’ So she jumped,” said Davinna Hardiman, another person who could only watch at first.
Witnesses told KIRO 7 the woman hit the ground and immediately groaned and held her ankle. She was covered in burns and then became unresponsive.
“She just looked like she was about to die,” Hardiman said.
Neighbors said they covered her in blankets and waited for paramedics to arrive.
Luckily, no one else was hurt.
Pierce County firefighters were able to knock the flames down.
The fire is under investigation, but it appears to have started in a stairwell, firefighters said.
The woman was taken to a local hospital.
Neighbors said she still can’t believe what they saw.
“That's just a picture that I can't get out of my head. You could see her body burnt,” Hardiman said.
KIRO
