Firefighter injured while battling blaze at Fullerton apartment building

FULLERTON, Calif. (KABC) -- A firefighter was hospitalized early Sunday morning after he fell from a ladder while battling a dramatic blaze that was burning inside a Fullerton apartment, officials said.

The fire began about 2 a.m. in the kitchen of a home on Welldow Lane, where it spread to upper floors and two adjacent units, a battalion chief with the Fullerton Fire Department said.

The occupants of the apartment - four children, two parents and a grandmother - were asleep at the time. The family later said the flames were ignited by a faulty microwave.

The family escaped without injury, but lost almost everything in the blaze. Lillia Ramzy, 10, spent the night outside on a pile of blankets as she watched her home burn.

"It was horrible. The flames were coming out. Everybody was screaming. The wire on the window was getting demolished, the curtains were getting demolished. I can't imagine not living in this house. It's beautiful, or at least it was," she said.

She said her mom kept screaming because she couldn't believe their home was on fire. Lillia's father said the faulty microwave began making popping noises about three months ago when they moved in.

News video showed dramatic flames emanating from a window of the second-floor dwelling.

One of the responding firefighters fell about 10-20 feet from a ladder, according to the battalion chief. The fall left his face visibly bloody before he was placed on a stretcher and carried to an ambulance by his colleagues.

He was transported to UCI Medical Center, the fire department said, and was later released.

The blaze was extinguished within 30 minutes.