Houston Construction Worker Describes Daring Escape From …

Trapped on a balcony by smoke and flames, construction supervisor Curtis Reissig knew he had to take action to stay ahead of the blaze that was quickly consuming the Houston apartment complex he had helped build.

"The flames were getting closer and hotter. I knew I had to do something. So I swung down to the lower floor," he said.

Reissig's daring leap bought him enough time to let a fire truck ladder get close enough for him to then jump onto it. Fire Capt. Brad Hawthorne, who was perched near the end of the ladder, helped bring Reissig to safety. The dramatic escape was all captured on video.

Reissig, 56, suffered minor burns to his face and hand in Tuesday's fire, which destroyed the planned $50 million luxury apartment complex. There were no other reported injuries.

The cause of the fire was still unknown Wednesday, but witnesses said it might have been caused by workers who were welding on the roof.

Reissig, who works for JLB Partners, had been eating lunch at a trailer on the construction site around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday when someone reported a fire. He grabbed an extinguisher and went up to the roof, where he put out some of the flames. But strong winds quickly spread the fire across the roof, so Reissig made his way to the fifth floor.

"At that point I saw a lot of smoke. ... It started burning my eyes, my throat. I couldn't breathe," he said.

Reissig found a window but couldn't open it. He said he thought he was going to die. But then he saw a door to one of the building's units and went onto its balcony.

"I thought, 'Ah, fresh air.' And then I look up and I see to my right all the flames on the building were that close. It was just amazing it had gone up that fast," he said.

Meanwhile, Karen Jones, who works in a nearby building, had come back to her fourth-floor office after picking up lunch when she found co-workers gathered at a window, watching the blaze. Jones, who captured Reissig's dramatic rescue on cellphone video, said when she and her co-workers saw Reissig come onto the balcony, they started to worry.

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Houston Construction Worker Describes Daring Escape From ...