A mother trapped in a second floor apartment as flames and smoke came closer, safely dropped her 2-year-old son from a window into the arms of a police officer in northwest Oklahoma City Thursday.
Takia Harding, 22, could not breath in the apartment as she hung her head out of the window for air at the Brownstone Apartments, 2908 NW 28, about 3 a.m. near N May Avenue.
Officer Anthony Glover was waiting about 20 feet below, standing on sofa cushions as the boy fell. He caught the boy, Tyree Polite, in his outstretched arms.
Firefighters responded to the apartments about 3 a.m., said fire Battalion Chief Benny Fulkerson. There were reports people were trapped on the second floor of the complex, he said.
One person was taken to a hospital by an ambulance to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Harding said she woke up about 2:55 a.m. to loud commotion. When she opened her front apartment door she saw flames and smoke and shut the door.
"We couldn't get out on the breezeway," Harding said. In her bedroom she woke Tyree as Vick stood with her at the window as they dropped cushions from the sofa to ground. But there were not enough cushions to jump on, she said. So she screamed for help.
Flames appeared on the ceiling as the officers appeared below.
The grandmother of the boy, Lanetta Vick, was also in the apartment with Harding and Tyree. Vick and Harding, were able to use a ladder extended by firefighters to get out of the apartment shortly after the boy was caught below. Harding said the smoke was to thick to breath in the apartment without hanging her head out the window before she went down the ladder.
Fulkerson said police officers were on the scene of the fire before firefighters arrived and helped evacuate a number of people.
Police Sgt. Dave Hollis had pulled down a section of a stockade fence so he and other officers, including Glover, could get to the south side of the apartments where Harding was screaming for help from the second floor window. Officers were standing under the window to help when Glover caught the boy.
Police Lt. Jack Spruill said there were three officers at the scene first. One knocked on doors to evacuate other residents as Hollis and Glover yelled at Harding to drop the boy.
"She (Harding) makes what would be a terrifying decision for any parent to make," Spruill said. "She ultimately does and Glover ends up being the one to catch him."
Harding said, "It was a relief he (Glover) caught him. His arms were open and he held on tight."
Spruill said."What could have been an incredibly terrifying situation had a happy ending," Spruill said.
Grandfather Tyrone Harding, 53, held Tyree while Takia Harding lined up at a mobile Red Cross station to make arrangements for assistance after the fire was extinguished. Tyree was tired and a bit cranky while waiting, but unharmed.
A candle may be the cause of the fire, fire officials said. More than 30 people were displaced by the fire.
Check NewsOK.com for updates.
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