2 Women, Their 10 Children Escape Raging Fire in Apartment Building

When Deloris Austin awoke in terror early Tuesday morning, her apartment was engulfed in flames. The smoke was so thick she couldn’t see the door in her bedroom, and the ceiling was beginning to fall in burning pieces to the floor.

Several hours later, as she sat in a motel room with her six children and four others belonging to her sister-in-law, Austin said she considers herself lucky.

‘Frightened to Death’

“I was frightened to death,” she said. “I thought we were all going to die. But, somehow, we all made it out. I still can’t believe it.”

Austin, sister-in-law Sharon Coulter, their 10 children and two other residents of their South-Central Los Angeles triplex escaped injuries when they fled the raging fire that broke out in the apartment complex about 5 a.m.

The two woman managed to grab all their children, whose ages range from 9 months to 11 years, and run barefoot and screaming into the street before the blaze filled the apartment structure at 7707 S. Broadway. A puppy that Coulter had given her children for Christmas died in the flames.

“But I couldn’t run very fast,” the 29-year-old Austin said. She is expecting her seventh child.

It took Los Angeles city firefighters from five engine companies nearly 40 minutes to extinguish the flames. Damage was estimated at $50,000. Fire officials were investigating the cause of the blaze.

Red Cross officials were asked to assist the homeless families and the apartment’s two other residents, Willie Miller and Carl Cooper.

They were taken to a nearby motel where they will be sheltered for the next three days. Red Cross officials have asked for help in finding the fire victims a permanent place to live.

“The fire was huge,” Austin said. “I’ve never seen anything like it except on television. If it took a few seconds more, I don’t think we would have made it.”

Hoarse From Smoke

Coulter, still hoarse from the smoke she inhaled, said she was still asleep when she heard one of her neighbors yelling.

She said she began pounding on Austin’s door, then the two scrambled to pull their children to safety.

“It was a terrible scene,” said Coulter, 39. “The kids were panicked and they were running all around. It was a mess. We didn’t even have time to grab any clothes.

“But we’re just glad to be alive. Our children are alive and they weren’t hurt. What more can you ask for?”