Majiah Washington noticed a flash outside her home this week in Portland, where a dangerous storm had coated the city with ice. Opening her blinds, she saw a red SUV with a downed power line on it and a couple who had been putting their baby in the car.
The woman screamed to her boyfriend to get the baby to safety, and he grabbed the child and began to scramble up the driveway on concrete so slick it was almost impossible to walk. But before he made it halfway, he slid backward and his foot touched the live wire B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址渁 little fire, then smoke,B次元官网网址� Washington said.
The mother, six months pregnant, tried to reach the baby, but she too slipped and was electrocuted. So was her 15-year-old brother, when he came out to help.
Washington, 18, was on the phone with a dispatcher when she saw the baby, lying on top of his father, move his head B次元官网网址� the 9-month-old was alive. Having just seen three people shocked to death, she decided to try to save the boy.
She kept a low crouch to avoid sliding into the wire as she approached, she said at a news conference Thursday, a day after the deaths. As she grabbed the baby she touched the fatherB次元官网网址檚 body, but she wasnB次元官网网址檛 shocked, she said.
B次元官网网址淚 was concerned about the baby,B次元官网网址� said Washington, who recognized the woman as her neighborB次元官网网址檚 daughter. B次元官网网址淣obody was with the baby.B次元官网网址�
Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Rick Graves praised Washington for her heroism but confessed he didnB次元官网网址檛 understand how she and the baby werenB次元官网网址檛 also electrocuted. The baby was examined at a hospital and is fine, authorities have said.
B次元官网网址淲e do have fortunately with us a toddler that is going to be able to thrive and do what they possibly can as they move forward,B次元官网网址� Graves said. B次元官网网址淎nd they are here, in part, because of the heroic acts of a member of our community.B次元官网网址�
The snow, freezing rain, ice and frigid temperatures that in the past week have now been blamed for at least 10 deaths in Oregon, from hypothermia and falling trees or utility poles, along with five from hypothermia in the Seattle area.
OregonB次元官网网址檚 governor declared a statewide emergency Thursday night after requests for aid from multiple counties B次元官网网址渁s they enter the sixth day of severe impactsB次元官网网址� from
The ice weighs down trees and power lines making them prone to snap, especially in strong winds. That appears to be what caused the electrocution deaths: A large branch broke from a tree, landed on utility wires and pushed one onto the vehicle.
WashingtonB次元官网网址檚 neighbor, Ronald Briggs, declined to speak with The Associated Press beyond confirming that his 21-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son had been killed.
But he that his daughter had come over to use the internet after hers went out. He and his wife had just gotten in their own car to run an errand when they heard the boom and saw the SUV apparently on fire.
He watched as the couple slid to their deaths B次元官网网址� and then told his 15-year-old son, TaB次元官网网址橰on Briggs, a high school sophomore, to keep his distance, to no avail.
B次元官网网址淚 told him, B次元官网网址楧onB次元官网网址檛 go down there B次元官网网址� try to get away from them.B次元官网网址� And he slid, and he touched the water, and he, and he died too,B次元官网网址� Briggs said. B次元官网网址淚 have six kids. I lost two of them in one day.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淚t just hurt,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淏eing a good father cannot solve this right now.B次元官网网址�
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