LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- At least seven people were taken to the hospital after an apartment fire in Jeffersonville, Indiana on Saturday afternoon.
The fire occurred at Eastlawn Apartments, near 8th Street and Crestview Court at 2:06 p.m. Mike McCutcheon, Jeffersonville Fire Department Deputy Chief, said at least eight families are displaced from the fire.
Firefighters searched the apartment after a report of a rescue being needed at the building. The back of the apartment complex took the brunt of the fire.
"At the end of the day, everybody ends up getting out," McCutcheon said. "We had some minor injuries."
The fire occurred at an apartment building near 8th Street and Crestview Court at 2:06 p.m. in Jeffersonville, Indiana on Dec. 16, 2023.
One firefighter had an arm injury, while six people who lived at the apartment were taken to the hospital. One person broke their leg after jumping out of a second-floor window.
"I don't believe anything too serious, however some minor injuries have occurred," McCutcheon said. "It's sad at Christmas time that we have individuals who are displaced in our city, but we're going to do everything we can try to assist them."
Holiday decorations like tinsel hung down from a window and a Christmas tree was lying on the ground. Families stood feet away waiting with the American Red Cross, watching as firefighters put out the flames.Â
"It was just really scary. I'm just happy that we all got out," Stacya May, who escaped the fire, said.
May was visiting with Todd Zipp when their neighbor's son Landon Tankersley came running in, saying there was a fire.
Zipp's smoke detector didn't go off. May said smoke detectors in other parts of the building also didn't go off. She now calls Landon a hero.
"If we had heard that or had everyone else heard it, everyone's response would have definitely been different," May said. "We were gunna jump. We were gunna have to go. I feel like that response time was great, cause that ladder came, just in the nick of time for us."
Zipp helped get Landon to safety.
"I handed him halfway down. The officer caught him the rest of the way," Zipp said.
Police also recovered the 12-year-old's tablet and stuffed animals.
The fire occurred at an apartment building near 8th Street and Crestview Court at 2:06 p.m. in Jeffersonville, Indiana on Dec. 16, 2023.
"'Thank you!' I know it's not a lot, but we try -- it's something' 'Thank you so much. I appreciate it,'" Landon's father said to the police.
"I'm not sure what Christmas will look like, but we will make it work," Zipp said.
McCutcheon said the fire started on the first floor and quickly spread throughout the rest of the building. Crews were on scene within five minutes.
Investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire.
"We don't believe or suspect anything to be foul play or anything out of the ordinary, it's most likely some type of accident occurred," McCutcheon said. "I don't feel like there's any threat to the community."
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