ORANGEBURG, S.C. — A 14-year-old is being credited for saving his 16-year-old sister and 3-year-old brother from an apartment fire in Orangeburg Wednesday morning.
According to Orangeburg Department of Public Safety (ODPS), firefighting units were dispatched to a report of a structure fire around 8:48 a.m. August 23 at Carrington Townhomes, 901 Corona Dr. Arriving at the scene, units found smoke coming from the two-story apartment 10C.
A 14-year-old male occupant told ODPS Fire Marshal Jonathan Winningham he was awakened by the smell of smoke in the apartment and tried to go downstairs to exit the apartment but it was too hot. He then went across the hall to his sister's bedroom and alerted his 16-year-old sister and 3-year-old brother.
The 16-year-old jumped out of a second story bedroom window to the ground and waited for her 14-year-old brother to lower their younger brother out of the window in order to catch him. After the 3-year-old was caught, the 14-year-old jumped from the second story window.
The sister then notified their mother, who was visiting a neighbor, of what was happening.
Desiree Harris recalls the moments after a fire ripped through her cousin's apartment on Tuesday morning. She says she and Monica were together in Harris' apartment next door.
“I was cooking breakfast for my parents and my doorbell was ringing real fast and I was like who is doing that and my baby is still sleep," said Harris.
Harris says fourteen year old Daniel, sixteen year old Audrey, and three year old Isaiah were the ones inside the home.
ODPS determined the origin of the fire was accidental -- contents of a pot left on the stove caught fire and spread throughout the kitchen.
“I came out and it was just like flames started coming out and it was just a bunch of chaos at one time and it all developed from a bad stove eye," said Harris.
Adjacent units, 10B and 10D, had some water damage as firefighters extinguished the blaze.
The three children were transported to Orangeburg Regional Medical Center for evaluation. The 16-year-old was treated for back and possible ankle injuries, the 14-year-old was treated for smoke inhalation and ankle injury from the jump. The 3-year-old was not injured. The mother is being treated for a hand injury.