‘I am going to die,’ Woman Rescued from Wyoming, MI, Fire Feared
mlive.com
(TNS)
WYOMING, MI — A woman didn’t know if she would survive a raging apartment fire until firefighters staged a dramatic rescue with a 35-foot ladder.
“We were having problems breathing,” said the woman, who was rescued from a third-floor apartment Monday, Jan. 19, along with her sister and young niece.
The fire happened about 8:45 p.m. Monday at Crossroads Apartments, near Clyde Park Avenue SW and 44th Street.
The woman spoke to MLive/The Grand Rapids Press Thursday, Jan. 22, but asked not to be named.
She said she had been relaxing in her apartment when she realized there was a problem.
“We started hearing the alarms. We heard people screaming ‘fire, fire!’,” the woman said.
She called 911.
The woman and her family looked to escape out the main entrance, but found the stairs on fire.
“Everything was happening so fast,” she said.
They tied bed sheets together, thinking they might be able to climb down from the window.
But they also thought about jumping — until firefighters arrived and quickly extended a 35-foot ladder to the window.
Wyoming firefighters released a helmet-cam video on Tuesday, showing the rescue.
Firefighters can be heard telling the family “Do not jump!”
The video shows a firefighter first grab the child and bring her down.
“Thank you,” a woman can be heard, panicked. “My baby, my baby.”
Then the two women climb down to safety.
The woman who spoke to MLive said she left the apartment with only her clothes.
She lost everything in the fire — money, a cell phone and keepsakes.
The nearby Big Top Market, on Clyde Park Avenue, offered $200 food vouchers for residents displaced in the fire.
Vince Grill, a supervisor at the store, said the store owners just want to be good neighbors.
“They are in the community and we just wanted to help,” he said.
Wyoming Fire Marshal Brad Dornbos earlier said that 33 people in 33 units were displaced because of the fire.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
©2026 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit mlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.