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Fire Damages Apartment Building, Children Rescued
Two infants are safe after being tossed out a window due to a fire in the apartment they were in Wednesday morning.

Galesburg Fire Chief Tom Simkins says crews were called to 642 West Losey Street around 6:30am Wednesday. The fire started in a kitchen area on the first floor of the duplex and was put out quickly, but Simkins says smoke from the fire prevented the upstairs occupants from leaving.

Simkins tells WGIL a male broke a window and jumped to get out, but that led to some scary moments.

"The [female] that originally had discovered the fire, dropped two babies -- one three-weeks old, and one approximately 17 months -- down to [the male] in the driveway," Simkins said. "And then she -- I'm not sure if she jumped or she crawled out the window."

Either way, Simkins says the woman has an injured foot, while the man had an injured leg. Others in the building were rescued safely, some through the use of a ladder from a local roofing business on a truck passing by the scene.

The four were treated at local hospitals. The fire was out quickly, but is still being investigated, and damage is said to be minor.

Simkins says the home had smoke detectors provided free by the Fire Department.


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