Last night I was woken up at about 11:30 by my sister. As I woke up lazily and slowly my sister urged me to get out of the building with her. I heard loud screams and a lot of commotion. My first expression was "these students are having a party." The first words that came out of my mind were "they are exaggerating" ...When I look at the building caught up in flames and deteriorating fast I knew that there was no exaggeration in the screams and cries from the burned student and the residents of the apartments. My sister and I went down and witnessed the firefighters prepare to put out the fire. We witnessed students confused and frightened faces. We witnessed the angry manager making calls and going up and down the stairs. We witnessed the burned student being taken away to safety. The sight was very frightened but I am glad that the student made it to safety and that there were no deaths.
Student suffers burn injuries in apartment fire near San Jose State
Article by San Jose Mercury News HERE: http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_25628214/student-suffers-burn-injuries-apartment-fire-near-san
SAN JOSE -- A college student was burned while escaping from an apartment fire near San Jose State University, according to a fire captain.
The fire broke out at At 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in a third-floor apartment at a complex at 467 8th St., located one block away from San Jose State University, San Jose fire Capt. Fernando Munoz said.
Two college-aged students were home when the blaze ignited, Munoz said.
One male student was asleep in his room when his male roommate, who was talking on the phone with his sister, lit a candle and placed the match on a couch, Munoz said. The roommate then walked outside and continued his phone conversation near the third-story railing.
After about 10 minutes, the roommate noticed smoke pouring out of the apartment's front door, Munoz said.The roommate called the student who was sleeping in a bedroom and told him to get out. The student walked through the living room and out the front door and received second-degree burns in the process, Munoz said. "The fire was going pretty good when he walked through," Munoz said. The student was taken to Valley Medical Center to be treated for his injuries. The roommate also knocked on doors of surrounding apartments to get other people out. The entire complex was evacuated, Munoz said. Firefighters believe the match landing on a couch likely sparked the blaze. The unit was a total loss and two apartments underneath it sustained water damage, Munoz said.
