PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WVEC) - A Portsmouth family is mourning the loss of a 72-year-old woman killed in a fire Thursday.
It happened around early in the morning at an apartment building on Nicholson Street. The family tells 13News Now the victim was Sylvia Ignacio.
"I hollered for everyone to get out. I thought everyone did get out and then I realized my mom didn't get out," William Bradshaw said.
William Bradshaw is Ignacio's son. When he found out his mother didn't get out, he jumped into action and ran into the blaze. Bradshaw said the flames were getting bigger and bigger, and he believed his mom got scared. He said, she told him she was going to the bathroom. Bradshaw ran back downstairs and found a ladder.
Kim Bradshaw said, "He just carried the ladder all the way around the house and he busted windows. The heat was so hot that they were blowing windows out of the building."
Bradshaw said he got to the bathroom window and yelled for his mother, but she never responded.
"I feel like I ain't do what I was supposed to, I was supposed to get her out," said Bradshaw.
When fire crews arrived, the home was fully engulfed, and crews couldn't make it up to the second floor. Chief David Harrison said four apartments are in this home, but three were currently being renovated.
The fire is believed to have started in a renovated apartment.
Chief Harrison said the contractor on the project told the fire department he was using several extension cords for powering the rooms.
"I was missing her five minutes after we knew she didn't get out," explained Kim Bradshaw.
Chief Harrison said the fire doesn't look suspicious, but it is still under investigation.
The Red Cross is helping the family.
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