A woman and her teenage son were hospitalized after an apartment fire that occurred overnight in Dallas.
Officials said that a man who lived with the woman has since admitted to starting the fire.
According to Dallas Fire-Rescue, on Thursday just after midnight, firefighters responded to calls regarding the fire. The call came from a complex on Stag Road, which is near Ledbetter Drive and Bonnie View Road in southeast Oak Cliff.
Firefighters were able to put out the fire quickly. Flames had been coming out of a second-floor apartment.
“I looked up and I seen the lady come running out of the building on fire. My first instinct was to pull my truck over, jump out of my truck and help her,” neighbor Tiashmon Clark told Fox 4 KDFW. Clark had arrived home just as a woman ran out of the apartment building. The woman was on fire, according to Clark.
“She got over to the grass right here and she started rolling,” Clark reported.
Clark said that he used his sweater in order to help put out the fire. The woman’s teenage son was still in the building, she then told him.
The son jumped from a second-story window at the back of the apartment in order to escape the flames. Several neighbors witnessed the event.
“They said he couldn’t even walk. So, I don’t know what his injuries were, but when I went back and looked at him, he looked bad,” Clark said.
The woman and her son were taken to the hospital, said Dallas Fire-Rescue. The woman has reportedly sustained life-threatening injuries.
Around the same time, an adult male with sustained burns also arrived at the hospital. Dallas Fire-Rescue claimed that he admitted to starting the fire during questioning.
The suspect’s name has not yet been released. He was arrested but currently remains hospitalized with injuries.
Neighbors whose apartments were affected by the smoke and water are receiving assistance from the American Red Cross.
The apparent arson attack in Oak Cliff occurred on the northern edge of Dallas City Council District 8, which is represented by Councilmember Tennell Atkins.
