DETROIT (WWJ) - Some residents jumped from their windows while others scrambled to get out of a five-story apartment complex on Detroit's west side as a massive fire completely engulfed the building early Friday morning.
WWJ's Charlie Langton is live at the scene at the Ambassador Apartments on LaSalle and Davison in Detroit where almost a dozen people were transported to the hospital in the overnight hours as a massive fire quickly burned through the old brick building.
"This is a 3-alarm fire here, it is not going out any time soon," Langton stated in a 6 a.m. update. "Despite three ladders trying to put some water on this fire, it is a completely total loss."
A 3-alarm fire is a classification system used by firefighters to grade the seriousness of fires and how difficult they are to contain. Langton said fire crews performed a number of daring rescues to get residents safely outside before switching over to defensive measures.
"Eleven people were taken to the hospital," Langton reported. "Two or three, though, had to jump from the third floor and then others had to be rescued by Detroit Fire Department."
Resident DeShawn Smith told Langton that he first noticed flames coming into his third floor apartment at around 3:30 a.m. on Friday.
By the time Smith realized he needed to escape, he was already trapped.
"Once I seen the flames, I seen, like, people hanging out the windows. You had a couple of people that did jump from the side of the building and it was just crazy," he told Langton. "It was pretty much scared and shocking to do. I lost my dog in a fire.”
Fire officials told Langton that 40 people lived in the complex and everyone has been accounted for. The dozen or so that were taken to the hospital were being treated for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters at the scene are now taking defensive measures against the inferno that has engulfed the third, fourth and fifth floors, along with the entire roof, of the complex.
"They're not going to do anything from the inside," Langton said. "It's a total loss, so they're putting some water from the outside just to try to control it. Luckily, there's no other buildings around it and it's not a drastically windy day."
Langton added that the colder weather is apparently fueling the flames.
"This building is going to collapse," he added.
According to Langton, officers with the Detroit Police Department are also on scene and confirmed that one man was shot and killed just two days ago at the same complex.
The circumstances surrounding the fatal shooting were not given out by police and it remains unknown if the fire is somehow related.
Langton said the street was filled with first responders as the fire continued to burn and most likely would for awhile yet. Drivers are being asked to avoid the area as crews continue to work the scene.
This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WWJ LIVE for the latest updates.