16 apartment units destroyed in Pine Hill, NJ fire; 5 cops and 1 firefighter injured
Five police officers and a firefighter were taken to an area hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
PINE HILL, N.J. (WPVI) -- A massive fire destroyed an apartment building in Pine Hill, New Jersey.
The call came in around 6 p.m. Tuesday for flames showing from a second-floor balcony at the Mansion Apartments on the 200 block of West Branch Avenue in Camden County.
Chopper 6 was overhead just after 6:30 p.m. as massive flames from the three-alarm fire raged out of control.
First responders went door-to-door, trying to rescue people.
According to Pine Hill Police Chief Christopher Winters, about 16 units were destroyed and nearly 30 people were displaced as a result of the fire.
Five police officers and a firefighter were taken to an area hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
"The officers that had been transported to the hospital for smoke inhalation were going door to door and making sure the people were out. It was very heavy smoke conditions," said Winters.
Vidal Aviles says it was the screams of a neighbor that alerted him to the danger.
"Basically the lady from downstairs was saying, 'Help me, help me.' That's when they realize something was going on," he recalled.
"I was told by some of the people around here that there were like people jumping out of the building," added Keisha Bishop.
Crews were able to get the blaze under control at 8:20 p.m. No residents were injured, police said.
With so much devastation left behind, one neighbor said he got out of his home safely, but now has nothing.
"I've lived here for long time, for like 15 years. It's kind of crazy. Got to start from the bottom now," said Ricardo Torres-Bey.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
