November 29, 2023
2 Daughters Jump From 5th Story Window After Apartment Set On Fire
An apartment fire on Nov. 14 in Detroit's New Center neighborhood became a backdrop for several acts of courage.
A Nov. 14 apartment fire in Detroit’s New Center neighborhood prompted two girls to jump from the window of their fifth-story apartment to escape harm, FOX 2 reports.
A 14-year-old girl leaped to safety, breaking both ankles and one wrist. Her younger sister, just 8 years old, followed suit, miraculously escaping unharmed. Neighbors used a mattress and their bodies to cushion the sisters’ fall, providing a lifeline for the two sisters. Firefighters later rescued the girls’ mother by using a ladder.
Commissioner Charles Simms of the Detroit Fire Department commended the community’s remarkable response, emphasizing the instinctive courage displayed.
“You know some people don’t need the attention or the accolades, but we want to show them that not only are firefighters, EMTs and police officers are heroes, but even citizens out there in the neighborhood – they’re heroes as well,” Simms said.
The teenage girl, who was wrapped up in a neighbor’s sweatshirt before she was helped, is expected to fully recover. “Many times people who try to jump out windows that high – it’s a different outcome,” Simms said.
According to investigators, the fire was allegedly set by 43-year-old Marion Scruggs of Detroit. Scruggs, who has a history of domestic violence, was revealed to have been in a past relationship with the mother of the two girls. Security cameras captured him dousing the apartment door with gasoline, lighting a cigarette, and initiating the fire before fleeing the scene.
“This person tried to kill not just the whole family, but any and everybody that was in that building,” Detroit Police Chief James White said.
Scruggs was apprehended by Detroit police within 24 hours of the incident. In 2019, he faced charges related to purposely setting a girlfriend’s home on fire, resulting in the death of a pet.
