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Apartment fire forces victims out windows

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

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Terry Camp
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BEAVERTON (WJRT) -- (10/28/09)--An apartment fire Tuesday forced a mother to drop her children from a window and others to jump to safety.

Wednesday night, some of those who escaped that fire in Gladwin County's Beaverton were sharing their story.

The fire happened at around 6 p.m. at Three Forks Apartments complex on M-18. The complex was badly damaged, and five people suffered minor injuries.

Heroic action by several people most likely saved lives.

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Residents that were on the second floor of the apartment building had one choice, and that was to jump for safety. Others needed help.

"There were some people trapped upstairs on the other side of the building," said Betty Doane.

Doane took pictures as the fire began to spread through the apartment complex. Three of the people trapped upstairs were Jessica Searfoss and her two children, ages 7 and 5.

"My kids were saying, 'Smoke!' They could see smoke," Doane said.

Searfoss saw the smoke, too, and went to the door of her apartment.

"I opened it and realized there is no way we were getting down the stairwell," she said.

Searfoss realized she would have to lower the children out the window and into the hands of strangers.

"Neither one really wanted to go, and I said, 'You have to be brave,' and I stretched out as far as I could when I put my son out, and I didn't let go until I knew somebody had hold of him," Searfoss said.

With her two children out, Searfoss and a friend jumped out of the burning building.

The fire started in a first-floor apartment, and a Michigan State Police fire investigator believes the cause was accidental.

Help for the residents of the six occupied apartments was available through the American Red Cross.

That's where Searfoss was several hours after the fire. She may have lost all her belongings, but she was still thankful.

"I want to thank everyone who helped, especially the ones who caught my kids coming down," she said.