COLUMBUS, Ohio -A survivor of a suspected arson fire that killed 10 people reached for the ladder in a desperate attempt to reach relatives trapped on the third floor.
But Antonio Noriega said firefighters pulled him away early Sunday as flames raced through the structure where his brother and his family had settled after leaving Mexico to earn a better living.
My family
they're sleeping and the fire is coming fast said Noriega, who had jumped out the window of his first-floor apartment. I can't help my brothers.
Ismael Noriega, 36, his wife, Lidia Mejia, 22, and their three young sons died in the fire, according to Antonio Noriega, Ismael's brother. Mejia's two brothers, her nephew and two family friends also died in the fire at the Lincoln Park West Apartments in suburban Columbus, Noriega said.
The victims lived in the same apartment on the third floor, which was destroyed in the quickly moving fire, Prairie Township Fire Chief Steve Feustel said.
It was suspicious that the fire burned so fiercely in a stairway, which in modern buildings are designed not to burn, Feustel said. The flames blocked people from escaping and left a wooden skeleton exposed above melted siding and at least 53 people homeless.
The fire started about 2:30 a.m. either in the basement or the first floor, but the cause was not known, Feustel said. There were no suspects and no known witnesses.
The fire came about six weeks after three fires were set in the same building in an empty apartment and hallway, Feustel said.
It appeared the first victims found had been trying to escape the flames, he said.
Relatives and friends of those killed arrived yesterday morning at the apartment complex looking for answers and mourning their loved ones.
They gathered with survivors in small clusters near the burned-out apartment building while Red Cross officials and members of Hispanic service organizations tried to comfort them and offer assistance.
We're hurt because we feel more could be done Ismael's sister Estanilada Noriega said in Spanish.
Two people, including a woman who jumped from a window, were released after treatment at Mount Carmel West hospital, a nursing supervisor said. Authorities wouldn't say Sunday afternoon whether others were still missing.
The State Fire Marshal's Office scheduled a news conference for yesterday morning.
Ismael Noriega moved to Columbus four years ago to join two brothers, three sisters and numerous nieces and nephews. He worked for a landscaping company, where he would work up to 70 hours a week, Antonio Noriega said.
The family enjoyed living in Columbus, but hoped to return one day to their hometown of Leon in the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico.
Pascasie Mulanigulwa, who lives in the next building, was awakened by the light through her bedroom window.
I saw people jumping down out of the third floor. It was terrible
she said.
17
Archives
The Associated Press
