8 make rooftop escape from burning Ballard house

The fire in Ashley Luberts' house was so intense the 16-year-old burned her hand when she grabbed hold of the windowsill to escape.

Crouching on the rooftop, Ashley saw "smoke coming up the rafters. I was so scared; I thought I was going to die."

She was one of eight family members who fled to the rooftop early Friday morning as the home at Northwest 65th Street and 9th Avenue Northwest in Ballard was engulfed in flames.

All made it safely to the ground. One elderly woman jumped into the arms of a firefighter and a police officer. Six others climbed down a ladder onto a fire truck. The other had made it down before firefighters arrived shortly after 4 a.m.

Ashley's 74-year old grandmother, Maria Luberts, suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation but is expected to make a full recovery, family members said. She was not injured in the jump to safety. Ashley's 12-year-old sister, Cierra, suffered burns to her hands and neck.

Authorities still were investigating the cause of the fire. Family members suspected the fire started from the wall near the living room and then spread upstairs.

Ashley recalled being asleep when a voice broke into her dreams and yelled: "Get up."

Her father woke up the family and pushed a dresser aside so everyone could get to the window.

Six family members ended up on the roof in the back of the house. They later made it down through a ladder from a fire truck.

Ashley's cousin and a grandmother were on the roof in the front of the house. The cousin jumped down and told his grandmother to jump — that he would catch her. She wouldn't budge.

Firefighters and police, though, arrived and talked her into walking to the edge of the roof and jumping into their arms to safety

Shortly before noon, after a trip to the hospital, Ashley — still in her red robe, pajamas and socks — returned to see what was left of the house she grew up in. It was gutted and charred and, according to authorities, unstable to enter.

Ashley and her sister live in Lynnwood with their mother but were visiting their father for the week. Ashley, who turned 16 on Christmas, lamented all the Christmas and birthday presents she lost and wondered what she would wear to school Monday. The family was planning to throw her a birthday party Friday.

Tan Vinh: 206-515-5656 or tvinh@seattletimes.com