Jim Walsh

The Republic | azcentral.com

Three bystanders formed a human chain Monday afternoon to rescue two small children who were trapped on a third-story balcony with their mother at a burning apartment building in west Mesa.

About six units were affected by the fire, which broke out sometime after 3 p.m. near Dobson and Broadway roads, officials said.

Christopher Sumlin and Kevin Andrews said they saw the smoke, heard the mother's cries for help and sprung into action, not thinking about their own well-being.

"As long as the kids are fine, I'm good. My number one goal was to make sure there was no tragedy," said Sumlin, 34. "I'm happy there were no tragedies."

Andrews, 24, who said he has a 4-year-old daughter of his own, said he imagined his own child being in such a precarious predicament and hoping that someone would help her.

"I had to do what I had to do," he said. "I just happened to be there. I wanted to help the kids."

In separate telephone interviews, Andrews and Sumlin said they ran into the burning building, past a fire inside a nearby apartment, to reach the unit directly below the one where the mother and daughters were trapped.

In the meantime, a third man identified by a Mesa Fire Department official as Ryan Eindenreich, somehow climbed up to the third-floor balcony by scaling the outside of the building. Sumlin said Eindenreich handed down the children to him, and that he handed them to Andrews.

Andrews said the men ran out of the building through thick smoke, carrying the children to safety outside.

"I had both of the kids in my arms," Andrews said, adding that the children remained calm during the rescue.

Capt. Craig Chenery, a Mesa Fire Department spokesman, said the children, who are 1 and 4 years old, were were outside the apartment complex in the 500 block of S. Dobson Road by the time firefighters arrived. Firefighters helped rescue the mother.

Chenery said the mother and children took refuge on the balcony because there was too much smoke and heat in a hallway leading to their apartment.

He said that, in his 20 years with the Mesa Fire Department, he can only recall three instances where victims were trapped on a balcony.

Chenery said the bystanders were heroic because they risked injury to help others and that they will be honored by the Mesa Fire Department.

Andrews said he never thought about his own safety, but he admitted to having some dread when he looked to his left while feeling his way through the smoky second-floor hallway and seeing flames inside an apartment. Still, he said, he continued toward the balcony, knowing he had an important job to do.

Andrews and Sumlin said the mother was very thankful for their help.

"She gave me a big hug and a kiss," Andrews said. "She said, 'Thank you for helping my kids.'"

Sumlin added, "she gave me a really big hug. I told her that it's something that any person should do."