BOSTON — On December 2, Alicia Soto and her two children found themselves in a frightening situation.
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A fire was raging beneath their upper floor apartment, and only one way out – through a window and onto a fire escape with no ladder to the ground.
Soto is hearing impaired and said the fire alarm that is supposed to flash was not working the morning of the fire. Her dog was barking, and one of her children was trying to explain what she was seeing but at the moment, she didn’t know what was happening.
“My daughter helped me a lot,” Soto said.
They tried the main staircase which was filled with black smoke, leaving only the fire escape as an option. Once there, firefighters were already on the street and working to get a ladder extended to the escape.
“I grabbed the baby. [I] was scared out of my mind. I was so nervous,” Soto explained.
Liam Pero and fellow firefighters reached them moments later.
“Training kicked in, I guess,” said Pero, a father of two.
“I just held on tight,” Pero said as he described the rescue of the children. Other firefighters brought Soto down to safety.
A witness captured those moments on video.
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A check for $1,000 was donated Tuesday to Soto and her daughters along with gifts for the holidays.
The family has also raised over $16,000 through an online fundraiser.
“I am very, very happy to have the support,” Soto said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before in my life, so thank you very much.”
Right now, Soto is trying to find a permanent apartment and replace all that was lost in the old one.
Boston Fire Department Investigators determined the cause of the fire to be electrical.