Kids and pets leap from 2nd-story apartment after man sets fire, Oregon officials say

Two children and their pets jumped from a second-story balcony after a man set a fire inside an Oregon apartment building, officials say.

Crews responded to a two-alarm fire at the Alder Royal Apartments early Wednesday morning, Portland Fire & Rescue said on Twitter.

When they arrived, firefighters saw “heavy smoke and fire” from a second-story apartment, the agency said.

An adult living in an apartment helped two children and two pets — a cat and a dog named Sofia — jump from the balcony “to escape the smoke and heat,” according to the fire department.

After the fire began, witnesses followed the suspect, identified as 40-year-old Gary Hickey Portland, to a nearby 7-Eleven, KOIN reported.

“There was talk about it, he had mentioned a couple times that he was gonna do something,” Sandra Beasley, a resident at Alder Royal Apartments, told KPTV. “We weren’t positive obviously, we didn’t know but he said he started the fire as he was walking out.”

Hickey was arrested and charged with arson, records show. He was held in the Multnomah County Jail on $250,000 bail.

This story was originally published December 23, 2020 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Kids and pets leap from 2nd-story apartment after man sets fire, Oregon officials say."