Mother throws daughters from third-story window during Georgetown apartment fire

by Cam McCann

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A mother threw her two young daughters from a third-story window to escape a fire at Georgetown Oak Apartments early Sunday morning.

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Tanasia Grant had to throw her daughters, 4-year-old Alaya and 5-year-old Autumn, out of the window around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. Two Chatham County police officers caught the children.

Mother throws daughters from third-story window during Georgetown apartment fire

Body camera footage captured the rescue.

Grant said the three woke up to a massive apartment fire and their fire alarms were not going off. Her family and her brother’s family were trapped on the third floor.

“I didn’t really want to throw my kids down but that was my only option and it was just something that I had to do,” Grant said.

The fire consumed the third floor. The building is a total loss, forcing Grant, her daughters, brother and pregnant sister-in-law to start over.

“They woke up all throughout the night, they jumped out of their sleep calling for me,” Grant said.

No one died in the fire, the most important part according to Tanasia.

She’s one of at least 50 people left homeless due to multiple fires in the county over the weekend.

SEE: Savannah house fire displaces 10 residents

EMT responds to fire at her own apartment

One neighbor impacted by the fire was on the clock at the time, rushed to help Grant and her daughters. Bri Maye, an EMT with Chatham Emergency Management Service, lived in the building.

“We never expect it to be us, you know,” said Ellie Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald spoke with uson behalf of her coworker Maye.

“Bri’s unit was actually dispatched here to provide patient care and transport,” said Ellie Fitzgerald, Maye’s coworker.

Maye and her boyfriend Tony Nunez are both first responders. Nunez is a Bryan County Fire and Rescue paramedic.

“I’ve only met a handful of people like them, and they’re exactly in the field they need to be and I think a lot of us first responders can learn from them right now,” Fitzgerald said.

Chatham County Fire said it took approximately 275,000 gallons of water to put out the fire.

No one died in the fire.

The Red Cross helped 38 people across 18 families. At least 50 people are without a home after a weekend of fires in the area.

“I didn’t want to die but if it was a case where I had to be saved or them, I will always choose them over me…everytime,” Grant said.