Millville firefighters honored after rescuing family from apartment fire

A hallway fire on High Street turned a Millville apartment building into a trap just after midnight, leaving a family of four on the third floor with only the windows as a way out. Kevin Hall and Sumner Bryan Lippincott reached the building, raised a firetruck ladder and brought the Hernandez family down to safety, a rescue that later earned them Heartland Heroes recognition.

Fire officials said heavy flames were burning in the third-floor hallway on April 4, 2022, cutting off the normal path of escape for residents inside multiple apartments. Because the fire was in the hallway, officials said the family’s only escape route was through the windows. The blaze also spread through parts of the building above a vacant business, adding to the danger for anyone trapped on the upper floors.

The rescue saved lives, but the fire still left its mark across the block. Five people were hospitalized with minor burns and smoke inhalation, and about a half-dozen High Street residents were displaced by the two-alarm fire. The American Red Cross helped provide shelter for some of those who had to leave their homes.

For the Hernandez family, the fire did not end when they reached the ground. The family has continued to look for a new home after losing its apartment and belongings, a reminder that even a rescue that makes the news can leave a family scrambling for housing, clothing and the basics of daily life. Contributions have been directed to the family through a GoFundMe effort.

The honors for Hall and Lippincott in April 2022 put a public face on work that often happens in seconds and under extreme pressure. Their first ladder rescue came in a building where a hallway fire blocked the normal exit path, and that detail matters for anyone living in an older multi-unit building in Millville or elsewhere in Cumberland County. When smoke or fire fills a corridor, the safest route may disappear fast.

The lesson for residents is plain: working smoke alarms, a practiced escape plan and a second way out can make the difference between getting out and getting trapped. In a building where stairs or hallways can fail at night, families need to know in advance which windows open, where ladders might reach and how every person will get outside before smoke cuts visibility to zero.

The Millville Fire Department, at 420 Buck Street, has seen how quickly mixed-use and multi-unit fires can escalate. On High Street, a fast ladder rescue kept one family from becoming part of a far worse tally.