Brian Jackson may lose both legs after emergency surgery for injuries in a Riverside apartment fire on Sept. 17. He told KABC he went first to help a pregnant woman about to jump from a window, then an explosion pushed him off.
Jackson’s stepdaughter told KTLA he suffered two broken legs and two broken ankles and lost feeling in his right foot. His family’s fundraiser says he faces multiple surgeries and months of rehabilitation and will be unable to work. It had raised more than $24,000 by Sept. 23; his stepdaughter said he had been living in his car while working full time before the fire.
Riverside Fire Division Chief Greg White said crews arrived around 2:15 a.m. to find a two-story apartment fully ablaze. They rescued two occupants hanging from windows of an adjacent apartment and treated injured people who had jumped; five people, including a firefighter later treated for minor injuries, were taken to hospital. White could not officially confirm the identities of those involved, but said officials understood a pregnant woman was among those found on the ground. Two dogs were rescued and three were found dead.
