Highland Park family escapes house fire, claims DFD response fell short

Family of 5 escapes house fire, criticizes DFD response

"My husband was the reason we got out of that house," Sharon Mayhawk said. "Because if he did not (decide to jump), there would have been five bodies in the house."

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. (FOX 2) - A family of five in Highland Park escaped a house fire by jumping out of a window.

The fire took place Monday night at a four-unit apartment building on Tuxedo Street.

One by one, Sharon Mayhawk, her husband, and their three young children jumped for their lives, she said.

"(My husband) jumped, and then he yelled for me to drop our children. I then dropped my five-year-old out the window, and then I watched, and I dropped my three-year-old," Mayhawk said. "In the midst of me grabbing my children, putting them out the window – I'm dealing with them being frantic and panicking and scared because 'now mommy has to drop you out of a window.’"

While the fire was in Highland Park, the Detroit Fire Department responded first but did not stay to finish the job, officials confirmed.

"My husband was the reason we got out of that house," Mayhawk said. "Because if he did not (decide to jump), there would have been five bodies in the house."

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Now Highland Park's fire chief, Erik Hollowell, is expressing dissatisfaction with DFD's decision to cut services short.

"We’re part of a mutual aid agreement. We have never broken the mutual aid agreement, so it’s still in place," Hollowell said. "So I'm not really sure why that fire, for some reason, the chief chose to pull the line out like that."

Hollowell said he would like to sit down with Detroit's fire commissioner to discuss the different challenges both fire departments face.

"I will gladly sit down with him and do any revisions that need to be done," said DFD Commissioner Charles Simms, in response.

According to Simms, the reason behind the DFD chief's decision to relocate his crew from the Highland Park fire was to ensure their availability for a possible emergency in Detroit.

"I know that DFD did drop their line and stretch – which means they took a hose charge line inside the apartment building," Simms said. "So I know they did provide fire service(s). One of our lieutenants notified Highland Park and said ‘Hey, we’ll remain on scene until you get your charge lines.' And so that's where the exchange was."

Simms did stress that DFD is not obligated to respond to fires in Highland Park.

"It's only under a request, and we were never requested," Simms said. "The men and women on the DFD went above and beyond to go into Highland Park to start the extinguishment of this fire."

The Mayhawk family is still recovering from the injuries they suffered during the incident.

Crime and Public Safety Highland Park