People jump from 2nd floor of burning house in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD — Two people were taken to a local hospital Thursday night after a fire broke out on the second story of a two-unit house.

There were reports of people jumping out the windows and people possibly trapped as crews responded sometime around 11 p.m. to the 400 block of East Southern Avenue near Tibbetts Avenue in Springfield.

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“Upon arrival we found a pretty chaotic scene” with about 15 people outside the burning building, Battalion Chief Jeremy Linn of the Springfield Fire Division.

“We had at least one female that jumped from the second floor window down to the outside yard and we had a young man that had some cuts to his hand from breaking out a window,” Linn said.

They both were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, including smoke inhalation and cuts and scrapes.

The fire was contained to the second-floor apartment, where about six or seven people, including adults and children, were when the fire broke out. There were several more people who were on the first-floor apartment as well.

The cause remains under investigation, but Linn said he believed there were no working smoke detectors.

“This one could have been much different. This place was full of a lot of people,” Linn said.

This was the second house fire of the year. The first destroyed a house on East Rose Street on Jan. 1 that was within a few blocks of the East Southern Avenue fire.

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In addition to the fire damage upstairs, the house on East Southern Avenue sustained significant water damage throughout that also harmed the wiring so First Energy remove the meter, Linn said.

The American Red Cross was called to assist the displaced residents.