Tom Cleary, Staff Writer
Published: 08:14 p.m., Tuesday, January 25, 2011
BRIDGEPORT -- Two people were injured while jumping out of a burning building late Tuesday morning in a two-alarm fire at 19 Rockridge Circle.
Three units at the Second Stone Ridge Cooperative were gutted and several others were damaged in a blaze that broke out after an apparent gas explosion. After the roof was opened by firefighters, flames shot 15 feet into the air.
Mariam Gonzalez, who lives in the house with her son, David Michaels, was taken to St. Vincent's Medical Center after jumping out of a second-story window and injuring her back, according to Michaels, 21.
Gonzalez was in good condition at the hospital, according to Michaels. She was awake and alert after she landed and did not hit her head. Michaels said they were waiting for the results from a CAT scan Gonzalez received.
The family's pet, a chihuahua named Princess, was killed in the blaze.
Firefighters responded to a call at 11:15 a.m. and had the fire under control by noon, said Capt. Richard Thode of the Bridgeport Fire Department.
In addition to Gonzalez and Michaels, two other people were taken to the hospital for minor injuries from slipping on the icy ground after evacuation.
The American Red Cross was on the scene to provide assistance to those who would not be able to return to their homes.
Michaels said he and his mother were asleep and that he woke up at about 10:30 a.m. after smelling smoke. Michaels said he tried to go downstairs, but it was too hot and there was a line of black smoke in the stairwell.
"Thank God I smelled the smoke. If I had been in a deep sleep, I might not be alive," Michaels said. He said the fire was so hot, he could hear glass breaking and everything disintegrating around him.
Michaels said he woke his mother up and jumped out of a second-story window wearing only his boxers. He landed in a snowbank, which he said saved him from major injury.
"It all happened very fast," Michaels said. "It was very scary. I didn't have time to think. I just had to jump."
He went to find his mother on the other side of the house. She, too, had jumped from the house, and he found her lying on her back. He then called 911, put on clothes and came back out. By that time the fire spread into two more neighboring townhouses. Smoke filled the other 12 units in the block.
The townhouse where the fire started was destroyed.
Michaels said his family had been having a problem with its gas. He said the family alerted the gas company to a smell of gas recently, but a representative from the gas company visited and said nothing was wrong.
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