Girl, 8, rescued from apartment fire in Delaware

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Thursday, October 23, 2014
VIDEO: Girl, 8, rescued from apartment fire
An 8-year-old girl had to be rescued from an apartment fire in Milltown, Delaware.

MILLTOWN, Del. (WPVI) -- An 8-year-old girl had to be rescued from an apartment fire in Milltown, Delaware.

The blaze broke out before 7:00 a.m. Thursday at the Heritage Court Apartments in the 2400 block of Heritage Court Drive.

Police tell Action News the fire appears to have started in the kitchen of the apartment.

Neighbor Steve Yeninas tells Action News that an 9-year-old girl, who lives in the apartment across the hall from him, knocked on his door yelling, "Help Me. My apartment's on fire."

Yeninas says he saw smoke coming from the door, looked in the apartment and saw flames. He grabbed his fire extinguisher and began putting the fire out.

Two other neighbors quickly joined in and helped.

Yeninas says the girl ran back into the apartment and into a bedroom, locking herself in. She ran out when the fire department arrived.

The girl suffered smoke inhalation and burns and was taken to A.I DuPont Hospital where she was treated and released.

A dozen residents were forced from their homes.

Investigators say the cause of the fire appears to be accidental.

No word on why the child was home alone.