DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit woman who survived a devastating apartment explosion that killed her fiancé had an emotional reunion with the first responder who saved her life during a ceremony honoring emergency crews.
Jameliah Hines suffered burns to over 85% of her body when an explosion caused by an uncapped gas line rocked her Detroit apartment on March 31.
"It felt like a city bus hit the building, the impact completely knocked me to the ground," Hines said.
The explosion occurred around 4 a.m. after Hines had just returned from her restaurant shift. Her children and fiancé were also inside the apartment when disaster struck.
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"I remember my hair being on fire, I was trying to put my hair out, but it wouldn't go out, so I just balled up into a ball," Hines said.
Detroit Fire Chief David Nelson said emergency crews "quickly deployed ground and aerial ladders, rescuing residents through windows and from collapsed sections using improvised ramps."
First responders rescued 13 people, including six children, but 28-year-old Brandon Bradwell, Hines' fiancé, was the lone fatality from the incident.
"I remember when we finally got out, I seen my fiancé, he was walking away, trying to keep himself held up, I'm like 'Help me get the kids. ' his exact and last words were 'bae I'm dead' and I'm like what?" Hines said.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan presented plaques to the emergency crews during Monday's recognition ceremony at the Adams-Butzel Recreation Center.
Web Extra: Watch as explosion victim embraces first responder who helped save her life
"This is something we don't do nearly enough of," Duggan said.
During her address to first responders, Hines recognized one of her rescuers in the crowd and asked for a hug in an emotional moment.
"I remember your face. Can I give you a hug?" Hines said to the first responder.
"I didn't know how burnt I was, I just could tell everybody else's face, and I knew it was bad, and I asked her, 'Am I gonna die? ' and she was like 'No, you're not gonna die'," Hines said.
Four months after the tragedy, only a chain-locked fence remains at the site of the explosion.
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"The explosion was so great it blew bricks from the building," Duggan said.
When asked what gives her strength after losing her home and fiancé, Hines didn't hesitate.
"My babies, knowing that my babies could have been burying two parents instead of one, knowing that my mom and his mom, they could have been burying all four of us, God," Hines said.
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