Family thankful for neighbors after fire breaks out at West Columbus apartment complex

COLUMBUS, Ohio — For Askar Jaffer and his family, they are counting their blessings after a fire broke out on Vail Pine Place, an apartment complex near Tuttle Mall.

"We're pretty lucky because all of the apartments near us were completely burned to ashes," said Jaffer.

The family is together and safe, and they are now living with friends after the fire that happened on Thursday destroyed their home.

Jaffer, his wife, and 2 1/2-year-old daughter were home when the fire first broke out. They tried to escape through the front door, but Jaffer said they couldn't get out.

"When my wife tried to open the main door, the fire was barging into our apartment, " he said.

They were trapped and their only option was to get out through the balcony.

"We opened the balcony, and we noticed all of the people, and they were shouting to jump from the balcony. That was the only thing we could do. We had no other option," Jaffer said.

Several neighbors helped the family get down from the balcony including Kelsey Lee.

"I actually got on someone's shoulders, " Lee said. "My boyfriend then stabilized us, and they passed down the baby, and then we helped the wife down. "

Jaffer had to jump. But amazingly he only sprained his foot, nothing broken.

And now he's praising and thanking all of his neighbors and extremely grateful to be alive.

"To all of the neighbors, thank you for being around to keep us out of danger," Jaffer said, "The most precious thing is that we are all safe, thank God for that."

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