SPRINGFIELD — With black smoke coming from her ceiling and flames at her door, a young mother made a tough decision Sunday morning to save her child from a fatal apartment fire in Holyoke.
“I didn’t know I had the strength to throw my baby out the window but I know God was on my side and I know God was going to protect her so I did it for her,” Briana Serrano, 18, recalled. “I did it to save her life because she needs to grow and I want to see my baby graduate so I did it.”
Sitting in a conference room Friday afternoon in Springfield’s Bay State Hospital, Serrano recalled that fateful morning. Her arm in sling and at times wincing in pain, Serrano was surrounded by her family.
Serrano, her 2-year-old daughter Aubrey Albarran and boyfriend Eric Albarran were asleep Sunday morning when fire broke out in the five-story apartment building at 106 North East St. in Holyoke.
Three people were killed in the fire and 25 families lost their homes. Investigators announced Wednesday an electrical problem was the cause.
Around 9 a.m. New Year’s Day, Serrano said a sign told her to wake up despite wanting to sleep more.
“I woke up, I looked to my left and all I see is, the ceiling, there was black smoke coming down from it,” Serrano said. “So instantly I ran to my door, the exit, to see if I could open it and I could get my kid and my husband out. I opened it and all I saw were flames all over my door so I closed it quick and I woke them up immediately.”
With no way out the door, Serrano and Albarran along with their toddler gathered near the window.
“I opened my window and there was smoke coming into my apartment, it was hard to breath so I was screaming ‘Help! Help! Please anybody!’” Serrano recalled.
Below, a few neighbors had gathered on the ground and were holding a blanket for Serrano to drop Aubrey into. Terrified to do it, Serrano said she knew she had to in order to save her daughter’s life.
“I told them, ‘please don’t let my daughter fall,’” Serrano recalled. “She [Aubrey] was telling me ‘no mommy no, don’t let me go,’ and I was like ‘you’re going to be all right baby, you’re going to be all right.’ I let her go and she fell but they caught her great.”
Serrano recalled her upstairs neighbors falling from a fourth floor window and landing on the concrete, face bloodied.
With Aubrey safely out of the apartment, Albarran continued to shield Serrano from the fire while his back was burning.
“It was burning but I didn’t think it was that bad. She was rubbing my back so I didn’t feel nothing until she jumped out,” Albarran said. “When she jumped out, that’s when it really, really started to burn. I started screaming like ‘help, I’m burned.’”
Serrano jumped out the third-floor window onto a mattress below after deciding there was no other option.
“I told my man, ‘I love you so much if anything happens, I love you so much, take care of my baby.’ When I went to jump, he was holding me back because he was scared,” she said. “I told him, ‘I love you so much, I’m doing this for us’ because there was only one little window, me and him trying to breath through it wasn’t working.”
She said going out the window was the hardest thing she did because she was unsure if she would survive.
Outside, Serrano said she landed on her bottom and doesn’t remember much because of the pain. She broke her tailbone to her spine and her left elbow.
About five minutes after Serrano jumped, Albarran was rescued with a ladder. He suffered burns to his back but had already been treated and released. Aubrey was never admitted to the hospital but was evaluated and suffered no injuries.
“I’m just so glad I’m here,” Serrano said. “God is good.”
The young couple moved into their apartment, their first apartment, less than 30 days before the fire.
“I moved from New York to be here, to have a good future, to go to school and I ended up catching that fire but thank God I’m still here,” Serrano said. “I’m still going to keep moving forward, keep going to school, do what I have to do. I’m trying not to let this affect me.”
She said she’s working toward her GED and hopes one day to become a doctor.
During Serrano’s stay at Baystate, the family has impressed hospital staff.
“Briana and her family have gone through something really hard and traumatic and they are both very young and we are just so impressed by how they have been handling everything. They are a remarkable little family,” said Amanda Simas, a child life specialist.
“The trauma of losing everything in the fire and having to make those decisions is hard for anyone and to see how well they’ve banded together and how strong they are being, its quite impressive,” Simas continued.
When she is released from the hospital, Serrano said she looks forward to cooking for her daughter and working toward getting the fire out of her family’s minds.
She will stay with her father, Fernando Serrano, at his home in Easthampton.
Both Serranos expressed their gratitude for the neighbors, strangers and hospital staff that have helped them since the fire.
“I thank everybody for the donations, I appreciate it. I lost everything. I appreciate everything they did for me,” Briana Serrano said. “It’s a beautiful thing. I’ve got a second chance at life. I’m happy I’m alive to see my baby go on in life.”
Emily Cutts can be reached at ecutts@gazettenet.com.