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Puyallup mother lowers children to safety during fire

A Puyallup mother is being hailed a hero after she lowered her two young children to safety from their burning apartment.  The flames gutted the main room of their apartment.

The fire broke out at the Cambridge Apartments at about 1 a.m. Sunday. Neighbors jumped in to help rescue the three people who were trapped by a fire that made getting out the front door impossible.

Just a few hours ago, 7-year-old Jonathan Flores-Vega and his 15-month-old brother Julian were trapped in a bedroom in their second floor unit at Cambridge Apartments, fire racing through their living room.

"I couldn't breathe," said Juliana Vega-Zamora.  She said she tried to open the bedroom door.  The heat and flames were too intense.  So she decided the only way out was through a window.

"I grab a blanket and then tie my kids," she said. "I tied him first."

Jonathan said she gave him instructions as she tied the blanket around him.

"She said 'be brave,' " he said. "And I was brave."

First Jonathan, then Julian were lowered into the hands of waiting neighbors.

"And then she jumped," he said of his mother. "And then people got her."

Central Pierce Fire Capt. Darrin Shaw said Vega-Zamora didn't have a moment to spare.

"Just in time," said Shaw. "When we arrived there was heavy smoke and flames from the back side of their apartment."

The fire's ferocious damage is obvious in a video her husband shared. Their smoke detector did not work.  But Shaw said they did one thing very right: sleeping in a room with the door closed.

"Two major things we want to get out of this," he said. "Check your smoke detectors. Check your smoke detector batteries. Make sure they're working. And also always sleep with your doors closed every night, because you never know when it's going to happen."

When the unthinkable happened to Vega-Zamora, she didn't hesitate.

"The mom is a true hero for getting her kids out," Shaw said.

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Shaw said investigators believe the fire started in the living room-kitchen area. But they do not yet know the cause.

The family is now being supported by the American Red Cross.