A man climbed 19-story West Philadelphia apartment building during the fire as he was looking for his mother who was trapped on the 15th floor.
Thirty-five-year-old Jermaine was a roofer, construction worker and has experience scaling walls.
In an exclusive interview with ABC Action News, he told: “As kids, we used to jump roofs,”
“Glad I had the practice.”
A 19-story Westpark Apartments high-rise at 4445 Holden Street started filling with smoke and he got a call from his sister that their mother Sheila who is 65-year-old and bed-ridden got stuck on the 15th-floor apartment.
He immediately rushed to the building and tried to go inside from the front door, but it was blocked by police.
“They said the elevators are not working. I said, ‘No problem. I’ll take the steps. I just want to make sure my mother- my mother is sick, she’s bed-ridden. So I need to get up there,” Jermaine said.
“They were like ‘we can’t let you in.’ I took it upon myself because that’s my mother. There’s no limits. That’s my mother.”
“When I grabbed a gate, at the top of the gate, there was a ledge. Then I could step on top of the ledge and reach up to the other gate, and keep climbing my way up,”
“All for my mom’s safety, period. I wasn’t worried about mine at all. She can’t get out of the bed or walk around so if there’s a fire she needs help out,” he said.
Fortunately, he reached there at the time and made his way to his mom’s balcony. Jermaine said his mother told him the fire was contained when she saw him outside her 15th-floor apartment.
“She was more shocked. She’s not surprised by the things that I do for her. She knows I’ll go over and beyond for her.”
Jermaine quickly scaled back down the building and he was sure that he is going to jail but an understanding officer didn’t arrest him and let him go.
“He told me if I didn’t leave I was going straight to jail. Because that was his job. But, he actually did cut me a break. He understood the circumstances, he knew – when your adrenaline is pumping, and your mom is up there, you thinking she’s dying – you’d do anything you can,” Jermaine said.