GOLF MANOR, Ohio -- A pan left on a stove is blamed for a fire that sent a six-year-old to the hospital Monday.
The two-alarm blaze started around 7:30 p.m. at 2640 Vera Ave in Golf Manor.
Fire departments from Amberly Village, Deer Park and Cincinnati joined in the battle and worked together to extinguish flames and save lives Monday night.
Golf Manor Fire Chief Gregory Ballman said his crews were on the scene within minutes.
"The big concern was the child in the back," said Chief Ballman.
A six-year-old was trapped on the second floor of the apartment building.
Golf Manor firefighters Casey Ballman and Charlie Weghor used a ladder to gain access to the top of a carport. They hoped to then jump into the girl’s window from behind the building.
That's when the rescuers got a boost from a neighbor.
"The carport began to collapse on them,” said Chief Ballman.
"And it kept giving and giving,” added Firefighter Weghor.
The men were standing on an unsupported part of the carport roof.
Every time they leapt to reach the window, pressure from the force of them jumping and landing rattled the aluminum structure.
That resulted in a neighborhood man, Antonio Jordan, stepping in to assist the firefighters.
"He almost fell, and I pushed him up before the roof caved in," said Jordan.
Casey Ballman said he and Weghor needed the help.
"’Cause there was no way we were going to pull ourselves up,” said Ballman.
"He was able to boost them from the ground and up into that window,” said Chief Ballman.
"Without him I don't know how we would have gotten into the room to find the girl,” added Casey Ballman.
After the fireman pulled the girl to safety, paramedics used CPR to start her heart beating and breathing again.
She was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital and stabilized. Later in the evening she was transported to an Indianapolis hospital where she has been placed into a hyperbaric chamber.
Her condition is considered critical.
