Police: Boston fire may have been suicide attempt

[October 18, 2011]  BOSTON (AP) -- An explosion and fire at an apartment building early Monday may have been the result of a failed suicide attempt, according to a preliminary police investigation.

Firefighters rescued at least 15 people, including a 6-year-old boy who was dropped from a third-floor window of a large apartment building in the city's Roxbury neighborhood.

A man, Mohamed Abdul Jabar, was arrested after he showed up at Boston Medical Center with burns and claimed he started the fire, police said.

Jabar, 28, was transferred to the burn unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was being treated in intensive care with second-degree burns to his arms, hands and face. His injuries didn't appear to be life-threatening, police said.

Police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said a preliminary investigation indicates that Jabar, who's from suburban Medford, set the fire as part of a failed suicide attempt.

Jabar is expected to face a list of charges, including arson and attempted murder. No address or home telephone number could be found for Jabar, who wouldn't be contacted at the hospital.

Ten people were taken to the hospital, most with smoke inhalation. Two firefighters and a police officer were treated for minor injuries.

Herbert and Judith Lamb were forced to drop their 6-year-old grandson from the window of their third-floor apartment into the arms of a waiting firefighter.

The boy told WCVB-TV that smoke was coming into his mother's room shortly before his grandparents dropped him into the arms of fire Lt. Glenn McGillivray. He said he told the firefighter, "Thank you for saving me."

McGillivray said firefighters knew Judith Lamb wouldn't be able to hold onto the boy until more help arrived, so they told her to drop him.

"Thank God I caught him," McGillivray told The Boston Globe. "I've never had to do that before, and I hope I never have to do it again."

Firefighters then used a ladder to rescue the grandmother.

Residents who escaped said they heard an explosion at about 1 a.m.

A short time later, a man showed up at Boston Medical Center with burns and said he started the blaze, fire department spokesman Steve MacDonald told The Associated Press. Police said Jabar doesn't live in the building but may have been in a relative's apartment.

MacDonald said the windows and frame were blown out in one corner of the building and bricks littered the street. More than two dozen apartments were damaged or destroyed.

All residents were accounted for, firefighters said.

About 160 firefighters were called to the scene. A temporary shelter was set up for residents displaced by the fire.

[Associated Press]

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