Detroit firefighters rescue mother's children from house blaze

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Four children are hospitalized after flames tore through their home on Detroit's west side.

Two of the kids were trapped inside and had to be rescued by firefighters as their mother Iesha Reynolds woke up to flames inside their home on Ellsworth. 

"I was just screaming that I can't bury my babies, somebody please help me." said Iesha Reynolds. 

Reynolds, 33, was living in the upper level with her four young children fast asleep. The fire began just after midnight Friday.

"My 3-year-old woke me up out of my sleep and pointed to the living room," she said. "And when I went out there, it was on the side of my couch and (the flames) were up to the ceiling."

Reynolds picked up 5-year-old Desmond and 4-month-old Brianna - but could not get to 3-year-old Kamari and 1-year-old Armani.

"The heat and the fire was so hot that I burned my arm," Reynolds said. "When I reached back for my other two kids."

Reynolds screamed their names but the little boys had passed out from the smoke. Reynolds ran outside and called 911 and her brother, Elvis Reynolds, who lived on the lower level.

"The first thing that I wanted to do was go into the house and try to get my nephews," he said.

But firefighters from Engine 53 arrived almost immediately, hopping out of their rig and into the flames.

"They immediately ran, kicked the door down and two minutes later walked out with one child," Iesha said. "And a couple minutes later they were holding the second one."

Iesha Reynolds and her brother say when they saw the firefighters bringing her babies out, they didn't know if they were still alive.

"I was thinking 'Oh my God they're not moving,' so I didn't know," she said.

"When they brought Armani out, he was dangling they brought him to the ambulance," Elvis said. 

Covered in ash, the babies were put into an ambulance and rushed to Sinai Grace Hospital then transferred to Detroit Children's Hospital of Michigan.

 Iesha and Elvis Reynolds were relieved to learn, that the children - who suffered smoke inhalation -- are now breathing on their own and expected to be okay.

"Thank God. thank God," Iesha said.

After the firefighters put the blaze out, but their day didn't end there.

"The firefighters came back to the hospital and walked to each child's room and checked on them," Iesha said.

While Iesha and her brother are trying to figure out where they're going to live, what matters most is having everyone safe and sound.

"They're all safe," Elvis said.  "They're all here with us."

The family wants to send a special message to firefighters Eric Jones, Jr., Jamal White and the rest of the crew at Engine 53 that night.

"They did a wonderful job," Elvis said. "I thank them with all of my heart for going in there and getting my nephews out of there."

"Thank you," Iesha said. "Thank you for saving my babies."