Jolted awake by a smoke alarm, a Stapleton woman found herself trapped in a fire early Tuesday morning that had engulfed her third-story apartment.
“I put my feet out the window and I was going to jump, because there was no other way for me to get out," said the 42-year-old, who asked that her name not be published.
Firefighters responded just after 4 a.m. to the three-story dwelling at 268 Targee St., where flames tore through the second and third floors, according to an FDNY spokesman. Two firefighters were treated for minor injuries. As the woman desperately weighed her options and began motioning toward making the three-story leap, a firefighter shouted, “No, no, no -- wait, wait, wait!”