MILLVILLE — Dominick Hernandez’s family only had two firefighters at their window to count on when their third-floor apartment in Millville’s business district caught fire early Monday.
“It’s one thing to feel helpless,” Hernandez began, “but to literally almost feel like everything is over at that very moment, it’s just unreal.”
Firefighters were called to the 100 block of North High Street, in the city’s business district, at 12:08 a.m. Fire could be seen coming from apartments above a vacant business, city Fire Chief Michael Lippincott said.
One tenant evacuated, but Hernandez, his wife and their two children, ages 3 and 6, were rescued from an apartment through their window by firefighters on a ladder, Lippincott said.
Hernandez said his children were asleep when the fire alarm went off. Since false alarms were common, he said, the family didn’t think anything of it.
After a few minutes, the situation became grim, Hernandez explained.
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“We started seeing like a clear-white smoke come into the apartment,” Hernandez said. “That’s when we started to panic, rush and started to grab our children.”
The family couldn’t escape down the hallway as the smoke blackened, so the only option was their window, Hernandez said.
Firefighter Kevin Hall said he and another firefighter, Sumner Bryan Lippincott, Chief Lippincott’s nephew, first made contact with Hernandez’s wife when they arrived by ladder at the window. She told them, her husband and the children were trapped because of flames in the hallway.
Hall said the firefighters took the children first, followed by their parents. Once they were on the ground, they were wrapped in towels to stay warm.
Hall said Monday was the first time he and Sumner Lippincott had to rescue someone from a firetruck ladder.
Hall, an 11-year firefighter, said he prepared himself during the ride to the flaming building.
“It was very nerve wracking,” Hall said. “I was a little nervous on the inside.”
“You can never really prepare and train enough for when it happens in a real-life situation,” Hall added. “You just take your time. You go through the different steps you’ve learned, make sure you’ve hit all of your points, and do what’s best for the people you’re going to ultimately save.”
The family and individual who self-evacuated were taken to Inspira Medical Center to be checked for smoke inhalation and were released. No firefighters were injured during the operation, Chief Lippincott said.
Hernandez also said he burned his hand when touching his apartment doorknob, but the burn wasn’t severe enough to need treatment at the hospital.
Hernandez said he and his family are searching for a new residence, but he’s beyond thankful for Millville’s firefighters at his windowsill that night.
The fire was determined to be coming from the hallway, not any of the apartments units. It remains under investigation, Lippincott said.