Firefighters rescue residents from balconies

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Firefighters rescued four people from apartment balconies Wednesday in the same area where they battled a blaze on Sunday .

Fire crews were sent to the 900 block of Broken Bow Trail around 6:45 a.m. Wednesday. It's at Cambridge Station Apartments. Heavy fire was shooting from the first floor when firefighters arrived.

Eight apartment units were damaged, and six of those were occupied. No major injuries were reported, though a firefighter was treated for minor injuries and two cats died in the blaze.

Amber Bailey says the fire started in her kitchen, as her mom cooked breakfast.

She got her mom and her young son out safely, but then went back in to try to get other items.

“It was amazing how quick it spread," she said. "It was just in the kitchen, then it was in the living room. I couldn’t make it back to the bedroom, so I wound up busting out the window of the front room.”

Firefighters say the fire spread so fast and was so hot, four people in upstairs balconies had to be rescued.

Ernestine Arthur was sleeping when the fire started, but also managed to get out.

“It was just a surprise and shocking to me. It upset me," she told 24-Hour News 8.

Mike Pruitt, with the Wayne Township Fire Department, said, “So many people live in one building, so it's a challenge. Our first priority is to get everyone out of the building, especially at 6:45 in the morning when not everyone is out and moving and on their way to work.”

This is the second time in less than a week firefighters were called to this complex.

On Sunday , a fire in the 7800 block of Big Horn Trail, in the same complex, left 10 occupants without a home. No one was injured in the Sunday fire.

Pruitt says the fires aren’t related, but that it’s time for an important reminder: to take precautions.

“Anytime you have a fire in apartment building, you are at the mercy of your neighbor," he said.