Longview mother throws own kids from window to save them from weekend fire

  • Source: katu
  • Published: 11/05/2015 12:00 AM

It's clear Chiann James is still in shock. She's surveying the damage left behind by a fire in her duplex, a fire which almost killed her entire family. A neighbor's camera captured Chiann and her husband screaming for help Sunday night. And they got that help in the form of that same neighbor, Mark Hedgpeth, who rushed toward the flames. "It feels good. It really does to know you helped somebody," Hedgpeth said. Hedgpeth made it just in time, and was able to catch little Annabella as her mother threw her to safety. "No, I don't feel like a hero. I feel like somebody who stepped up in a time of need," Hedgpeth said. Investigators say the fire started right under the staircase, basically the worst possible scenario because it blocked the one exit of the apartment. So those parents had to make a very quick decision. Soon they realized the only way to save their kids was to drop them out of their second-story window 20 feet down. A stranger, riding by on his bike, stopped to help too. He caught James' young son, then just rode off. I asked James what it was like during the moment she realized she would have to throw her kids out the window. "I was scared but it's life or death," James replied. "I'd rather them have a broken ankle than to be dead." With their kids safe, James and her husband were still trapped. So they jumped out of the window too. She's convinced her late father was watching out for her. She's already gotten a chance to thank Hedgpeth, but would love the chance to thank that stranger too.



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