UPDATE: Cambridge Fire Leaves Nearly Two Dozen Injured - WMDT 47 News - Delmarva's Choice

CAMBRIDGE, Md. - An overnight apartment fire in Cambridge sends nearly two dozen people to the hospital.

People jumping from windows and flames lapping at the sides of this building, reaching up into the night sky.

"The screams were so loud, so I ran," said Olimatte Taal, who witnessed the fire. "My first instinct was run, run, run!"

The apartment fire happened at 507 Race St. around 10 PM Sunday night.    

A film crew, New Image Films, shooting a faith based video at the church next door to the apartment building were first on the scene and captured video after helping families escape before emergency crews arrived.

"I was like, 'Billy, there's a fire!' so he goes and he grabs a key, runs downstairs, gets the van, drives it right under to where the window was and they started taking the children and dangling the children," said Taal.    

Preliminary reports show 21 residents were transported to hospitals with injuries, mostly from their desperate efforts to flee the flame. None of the injuries are said to be life threatening.

Two firefighters were treated with stress-related injuries and were released.

"So many of them were trapped in the, the fire was actually in the exit, in front of the building and stopped them from coming out that way," Robert Phillips, Cambridge Fire Chief.

Rescue Fire Co. was the primary department on the scene and it took nearly 100 firefighters from approximately 13 fire companies in the surrounding area to help to subdue the fire, but not before part of the building collapsed, forcing firefighters out.    

Investigators are still trying to figure out what ignited the flames. No word yet on the extent of damages or how many folks were displaced. Fire crews and police tell WMDT that they expect to be out on the scene until at least 9 AM Monday morning, asking motorists to steer clear of the downtown area, near the 500 block of Race Street.