Woman escapes Germantown house fire by jumping from second-floor window

A Germantown woman jumped out a window on the upper floor of a burning home early Tuesday morning to save herself, Philadelphia Fire Department officials said.

Executive Chief Richard Davis said firefighters from Engine 19, Ladder 8 responded to the fire at 5605 Baynton St. at 12:28 a.m. Tuesday and were able to place it under control within a half hour.

The response was so quick because their firehouse is less than a block away from the scene.

That proximity helped firefighters douse the blaze before it could spread and damage to other homes on the block, officials said.

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The fortysomething woman who leaped from a second-floor window broke both of her legs while trying to escape the home that was engulfed in flames. She was taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center for treatment.

Davis said later Tuesday morning that he did not know her condition, but did not believe the injuries to be life-threatening. Her identity was not publicly released.

Investigators are still trying to determine what sparked the fire.

Thomas E. Zamonski and Parissa M. Zecher are students at Temple University. Philadelphia Neighborhoods, a NewsWorks content partner, is an initiative of the Temple Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab.

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