Joleen King snatched her 4-year-old daughter and ran into the burning hallway.
People rushed door-to-door, warning others to get out.
As King, 23, bolted down the stairs, flames raged above her and engulfed the third story and most of the second. She said she lost all of her belongings in the fire, even her cellphone and shoes.
“Everything was in flames,” she said later Saturday. “It was scary.”
Above her, neighbors jumped from the third and second floors. Others tossed their babies to residents on the ground because not even the stairs were safe.
The fire displaced 31 residents at Building O of Majestic Oaks Apartments, 5800 SW 20th Ave. The blaze possibly started in a trash can on the third floor of Building O at about 3 p.m. Saturday, said Harry Collins, assistant chief for Alachua County Fire Rescue.
It caused about $400,000 worth of damage, he said.
Neighbors said almost everyone from the third floor went the hospital.
Collins said emergency workers took two people to Shands at UF to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries after they jumped from the building. He said at least four children were tossed to neighbors on the ground, but no one was hurt.
During the chaos, a neighbor passed his daughter from the blazing third floor to Mark Riley, a second-floor resident. Riley held tight to his neighbor’s 4-year-old daughter and passed her along to neighbors on the ground, his fiancee told the Alligator.
He helped another woman jump to the ground. Then, he made the leap.
His fiancee, 28-year-old Alisha Bass, said about six people had to jump to safety.
“It was on fire. The whole building. The stairs was gone. There was no stairs, so they had to jump,” said Bass, who was not at home during the fire.
By Sunday, some residents were planning to move back into new apartments at Majestic Oaks. The American Red Cross gave the displaced residents a one-night motel voucher and some money to buy new furniture, Bass said.
Bass said she received a card with $180 to replace furniture for her family. She has two children and one on the way.
State and county fire inspectors will determine whether the fire was arson.
Even after firefighters doused the building with torrents of water, lingering flames licked the edge of the roof Saturday afternoon.
By the time the fire was out, the roof was charred and some walls on the third floor were gone.
Alachua County Fire Rescue, Gainesville Fire Rescue and the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office responded to the fire.
Contact Meredith Rutland at mrutland@alligator.org.
