14 hours ago
Children thrown to safety as explosion, fire rips through Garden Valley apartments
CLEVELAND (WJW) – Firefighters sprayed water and doused hotspots through the night at the scene of a massive apartment fire.
An explosion Monday afternoon at the Garden Valley apartment complex sent tenants running for their lives.
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Joniqua Bridget told us she had just left her sister's apartment when she heard the boom.
'My whole apartment shook, and I go outside to see what the big boom is, everybody is running up to me, asking me if my kids are safe, if my kids are good, if my kids are out of the apartment where my kids are at, because my sister's apartment just got blown up.'
It was a terrifying few moments until she spotted them, outside and unharmed.
She told us, 'That's the worst feeling anybody could go through,' she cried.
'I would never ever want to go through. I was just happy to see him.'
The building has 44 units.
Many of the victims made it out on their own. Some were trapped. Others were seen dropping small children out of windows to waiting hands below.
Five people were seriously injured according to Cleveland Fire Department spokesman, Lt. Mike Norman.
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He said the fire required a massive response, 22 companies and 60 firefighters, to extinguish the flames.
SkyFOX flew over the scene Tuesday morning to get a perspective of just how massive the fire was.
Norman explained that their job was complicated by the roof design which included heavy solar panels and a common loft.
'That's the challenge with it. Once it got into that roof, underneath that roof, it ran the entire length of the building. So, it started on the south side, and we've got fire all the way to the north side.'
On top of that these crews were hauling hoses, climbing ladders and battling flames in scorching summer heat.
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It's too early for a cause but some of the residents have their suspicions.
Joniqua Bridge told us they smelled the strong odor of gas.
'It smelled all day,' she said.
'The whole time I was in the apartment, like it was smelling to the point where it started coming inside of my sister's apartment. If you open the door, I was telling the kids, stop opening that door. It smells bad in that hallway, close the door.'
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