4 hospitalized, including 2 firefighters, after Hamtramck house fire forces family to flee through windows
Four people, including two firefighters, were taken to the hospital after a house fire tore through a home on Belmont Street in Hamtramck early Wednesday, forcing a family of nine to escape through windows and off a balcony.
Homeowner Muwafeg Abuhamra said his wife woke him after hearing his mother screaming. By the time he got up, he said, smoke had already filled the house.
"My wife woke me up saying, 'Hey, I hear your mom screaming. Go see what's wrong.' So when I get up out of my room, I smell this very thick smoke," Abuhamra said.
Abuhamra grabbed his three young children — ages 9, 6 and 4 — from their beds on the second floor and handed them down to a city code enforcement officer who happened to be outside at the time.
"Thank God there was people out here from the city. I just started throwing my kids off from the balcony," he said.
His brother and sister-in-law were in the attic when the fire broke out. With flames spreading quickly, both had to jump from the third floor and were taken to the hospital.
"He does have a broken back and legs and his wife is still in the hospital because she has smoke inhalation," Abuhamra said, adding that his mother and two other brothers made it out safely.
The extent of the firefighters' injuries was not immediately known. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Abuhamra said the home had no smoke detectors, which he believes made the situation far worse.
"I did not have smoke detectors. So please, whoever doesn't have smoke detectors, get them. It could save you a life. If I had a smoke detector, none of this would have happened," he said.
Abuhamra, who does not have homeowner's insurance, said supporting a family of nine on a single income is difficult, particularly given the cost of living.
"I'm the only one working at the moment and supporting a family of nine, and it's very hard, especially nowadays when everything is so expensive," he said.
The fire comes just days before his youngest daughter's birthday.
"I promised her a really good birthday. I don't know what to tell her now," Abuhamra said.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help support the family.
