DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) – Neighbors in Decatur’s near Westside risked their lives Sunday afternoon to try and save two children from a burning apartment complex.
"We walked out and the house just went in flames,” one of the neighbors, Sherry Mars, said. “It was crazy."
The fire broke out around 2:00 Sunday afternoon on the 600 block of West Main Street.
"I didn't know what to do,” Mars said. “I was going to go in and save people, try and help but they wouldn't let me."
Mars said she was told people were trapped, and three teenagers were outside of the home yelling for them to come out. Mars said she knew she had to act.
"I'm a Mom,” she said. “I seen kids out there. I am a Mom. That was my first instinct. It was just a motherly thing."
Decatur Fire Chief Jeff Abbott said the call came in as multiple people trapped in the home. When fire crews arrived, a seven-year-old had already been removed and was being treated by paramedics. A second victim, a 13-year-old, was later found unconscious on a top floor.
"Crews were able to go up through the back and bring a victim, an unconscious victim down the ladder in the back,” Abbott said.
The building was an old home that had been converted into apartments. Abbott said the layout made fighting the fire a challenge.
"Houses that are cut up into apartments are always challenging and this one looked like it had been added on to the back which made it difficult to get up into the attic area, but it was pretty standard fire fighting for us,” he said.
Neighbors, like Mars, told WAND News that they are now praying for the two young lives impacted by the fire.
"I tried to help, that is all you can do,” she said. “It is pretty sad though."
The cause of the fire is unclear, and the State Fire Marshal was called into investigate. The American Red Cross is assisting those displaced by the fire.
It is unclear of there were working smoke detectors in the apartments.
At last check, both victims are listed in critical condition.
