The fire severely injured the woman and put five other families out of their homes, 17 people in all.
"The apartment was all flames, about chin height. After that, there was smoke everywhere," neighbor Demetrius Jetton said from the emergency room at Marin General Hospital. He is the neighbor who heard the alarm, rushed in and saw a 49-year-old woman lying unconscious on the floor.
San Rafael apartment where a fire severely burned a 49 year-old woman, this a.m. @SRFD saved other units. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/kb7JBP1KVb
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) March 10, 2017
He first tried to pick her up. "But she was so hot that it burned me to touch her, you know. She was not on fire but the burns were pretty bad. You could see the skin peeling off," he said.
The San Rafael Fire Department says the blaze began at about 9:15 a.m. in a lower apartment, with smoke floating up into the units above.
Emil Tystov escaped through a window, then firemen helped pull out his baby and wife.
The blaze gave them little warning. "I was sleeping. I just heard the alarm," he said.
It's a miracle that other apartments didn't burn. Officially, fire investigators have yet to identify a cause. Unofficially, neighbors have their own theories about what happened to the woman in the burned apartment.
"She does like to burn incense. Something must have caught fire but she was passed out and was not able to catch the fire," neighbor Allison Lucia said.
From all this, there is one certainty. Jetton can sleep tonight knowing he did his best to save a life, but he is not comfortable with being called a hero. "Most people in the situation I feel like would have done the same thing," he said.
The condition of the woman who was rescued is unknown at this time.
We told you earlier of a neighbor who rescued the victim. Here he is.
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) March 10, 2017
Demetrius Jetton dragged her out. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/nxHtVUnF8s
“Hero,” says @SRFD. “Anyone would have done the same,” said Demetrius.
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) March 10, 2017
We’ll hear from him at 4 and 5. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/ewKQMHSU1z
Smoke moved upward. @SRFD rescued a family from the apartment above.
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) March 10, 2017
#abc7now pic.twitter.com/wpcGfCkTJo
We’re told five units have serious smoke damage, and one is badly burned. #abc7now #sanrafael pic.twitter.com/SK8gPzuVPI
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) March 10, 2017
At least one woman seriously burned. Condition unknown. A neighbor rescued her. #SanRafael #marin #abc7now pic.twitter.com/6rrRHvwiSy
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) March 10, 2017
Residents displaced after fire in #SanRafael apartment house. #abc7now pic.twitter.com/VEZ4OWbzSU
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) March 10, 2017
Two alarm apt fire on Bayview Street in #SanRafael. 3 victims to hospital. #abc7now One badly burned. pic.twitter.com/qGSLnFiZVC
— Wayne Freedman (@WayneFreedman) March 10, 2017