(WXYZ) — A mother and her two children have been hospitalized following an apartment fire in New Haven Thursday morning.
According to a release from the Macomb County Sheriff's Office, around 5:50 a.m., a deputy was patrolling the Pinewood Apartments when he saw heavy smoke coming from one of the end units in the rear of the complex. The deputy called for assistance and immediately took action, according to authorities.
Neighboring residents were evacuated and three Macomb County Sheriff deputies entered the burning apartment. Deputies entered the first floor of the two story unit and were met with heavy smoke.
A 32-year-old man out of Detroit and his three children – ages 5, 7, and 10 – were found and escorted from the first floor of the unit. Deputies were unable to get to the second floor from within the apartment and emptied all of their available fire extinguishers.
Police say a maintenance ladder was obtained, and a deputy was able to climb onto the roof to break the window giving access to the second floor.
The 33 year old female resident and her two children – ages 13 and 2 – were sleeping upstairs. New Haven Fire Department arrived on scene and both the fireman and deputies worked together to rescue the mother and her children from the second floor.
All were brought out safely through the second floor window, but suffered from smoke inhalation.
Neighbors witnessed the 2-year-old being rescued, and reported the child was initially unresponsive.
“When we did bring her out, she was limp. We gave her a couple rescue breaths she kind of perked up a little bit," said Assistant Chief with the New Haven Fire Department, Daniel Stier.
“I am very proud of the heroic actions taken by these deputies. They acted with swiftness and selflessness, putting the lives of the citizens they serve and protect every day before their own," said Sheriff Anthony Wickersham.
The mother and her two children were transported to the hospital for severe smoke inhalation. The father and his three child are uninjured, according to police.
One deputy, a 22-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office, was taken to the hospital for severe smoke inhalation, and the other two deputies are being checked out medically.
The fire is now out and Macomb County Sheriff Fire Investigators are on scene investigating the cause of this incident.
The neighboring apartment remains evacuated due to smoke damage.
Karen Kincaid lives in the front of the apartment complex, and is also a New Haven Housing Commissioner. She worked to get her neighbors to safety as fire crews battled the smoke.
“So what I did, knocked on the doors to make sure everybody was out to make sure everybody was safe," she said.
Tyler Jaynes lives next door to the apartment that caught fire, and woke up after it started.
“I heard a lot of smoke detectors going off for a while. So I ended up getting up and I thought it was kind of odd because I smelled like a burnt smell. So then I looked out the window my neighbors were all outside," she said. "Then I see smoke coming up from their house towards my house.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
