On Tuesday afternoon, Danielle Mitchell sat in a lawn chair taking in the scene before her.
Around 1:50 p.m., D.C. Fire and EMS personnel responding to a fire in a three-story apartment building across the street, and fire truck ladders towering overhead.
Roughly three hours earlier, Mitchell was inside that Southeast D.C. building, and in her apartment, when the fire broke out.
鈥淚t started on the roof up the stairs, like in two minutes, the whole roof was just engulfed,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淭he fire department got here as fast as they could.鈥�
Mitchell told 蜜桃视频app she initially thought the sound she heard was a kitchen alarm.
鈥淭hank God for neighbors knocking on doors,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥�’It’s a fire. Get out! Get out now! It’s a fire.’鈥�
She fled with her 71-year-old mother and her 12-year-old daughter, Brooklynn, as black smoke filled the air and flames spread through the building.
鈥淢y mom, you know, uses a cane and is handicapped,鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淚t took her a little longer to get up the stairs than everybody else. But she got out safe.鈥�
Even after watching her apartment building go up in flames, Mitchell said she was grateful that everyone was safe.
鈥淭hank God that everybody got out alive, and the fire department is all safe,鈥� Mitchell said.
This Friday, Mitchell’s daughter will celebrate her 13th birthday. When she realized her presents were still inside the apartment, she told her mom, “My birthday stuff is in the house.”
鈥淚 was like, ‘It’s stuff, Brooklynn. It’ll be okay,’鈥� Mitchell said. 鈥淵ou can replace stuff. You can鈥檛 replace people.鈥�
D.C. Fire and EMS that 28 adults, 16 children, four dogs and three cats were displaced as a result of the fire on the 5300 block of E St. SE.
Agencies including the Red Cross, the D.C. Department of Human Services and the Mayor鈥檚 Office of Community Relations were assisting families at the Woody Ward Recreation Center.
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