Angel Munro narrowly escaped death after being rescued by fire crews from the fifth floor of the apartment building at 114 Holland St. West that caught fire on March 22.
Munro says since the fire she has been the subject of online verbal attacks, with people blaming her for starting the fire, despite having not been in the building at the time it started.
“I got up in the morning like any other day and got my daughter ready for school,” explains Munro, whose eight-year-old daughter and fiancé resided in unit 503 with her. “I dropped my daughter off at school and went to visit a friend for a bit.”
Munro took her single-mom friend (who doesn’t drive) to the Helping Hand Food Bank, something she had always done on Mondays. After dropping her friend off back home, Munro stopped to pick up a few groceries before heading back to her apartment, where she met up with fiancé, Fernando Francisco.
“As soon as we got to the back door, fire alarms went off… I didn’t see anything stating they were testing the alarms,” remembers Munro, adding that the lights were on, elevators were still working, and she didn’t see any smoke or fire on the first floor. “We took the elevator to the fifth floor… lights were off and everywhere was smokey. I ran into a tenant two doors down from my apartment and he said the smoke was coming from my unit. I could see black smoke from the door frame and as soon as I opened the door, one of my dogs came running out.”
Munro had three dogs (including a female and her new puppy), a cat, and fish inside the unit.
Despite Francisco’s efforts to stop Munro from entering the apartment, she proceeded to run in to save her beloved ‘fur babies’.
“The whole entire apartment was black, black, black… entirely black!” recalls Munro. “I started pounding on the floor to get the other dogs but couldn’t see them.”
Unable to find her way out of the apartment due to the thick black smoke, Munro slithered across the floor to the balcony for air and to escape the intense heat. Once on the balcony, she found herself trapped and began screaming for help to call 9-1-1.
“In that kind of situation, you don’t think,” states Munro. “I screamed down to people from the balcony, Fire! Fire!… It was getting hotter and hotter… the glass smashed in the dining room, living room area from the heat, it was so hot.”
Munro could feel her skin begin to burn and her hair singe from the heat of the smoke. She hopped over the divider that separated her balcony from her neighbours, Max and Maria, an elderly couple still in their apartment.
Munro says her screams were heard from other neighbouring apartments, including a tenant above her unit that was sleeping when the fire started. Munro's screams woke the neighbour, saving her life.
“I didn’t see any flames until I was outside on my balcony,” says Munro. “When I saw the flames I thought, if I don’t move, I’m dead!”
Munro began banging on Max and Maria's balcony door, whose apartment was also starting to fill with black smoke. Munro entered their unit and called 9-1-1.
“The 9-1-1 operator instructed us to grab a blanket and huddle under the blanket until fire crew arrived,” explains Munro, adding that her and Max also put a towel under the frame of the front door of the unit. “I started getting really lightheaded and ready to pass out… the 9-1-1 operator told me to control my breathing and get as close to the floor as possible. We tried to suck in as much oxygen as possible, but it just kept getting blacker and blacker… I told the operator I was going to die.”
Munro said it felt like forever before fire crews reached the three of them huddled together in the unit.
“I remember hearing the fire crew yelling at me from the balcony to get up and out… I fell a few times on the way to the balcony… they kept shaking me, telling me to breathe and keep my eyes open.”
Fire crews rescued the three tenants from the balcony via an aerial escape ladder and were immediately transported to Southlake hospital in critical condition with eight other injured residents.
Munro suffered second degree burns, including blisters to her left arm, tongue, and throat. Due to the severe damage to her lungs, she was put in an induced coma where she remained for eight days. She spent a total of 11 days recovering at the hospital before being released.
“It took me a few days to remember what happened, bits and pieces started to come back,” explains Munro, adding that she could not remember names properly, let alone the fire. “Slowly, I started to do rehab to learn to walk and talk. My throat was so badly damaged, I had to start with baby food and learn to eat again.”
While Munro continues to heal from her injuries, she still gets winded easily and cannot speak properly as her lungs and throat are still "very raspy". Her eight-year-old daughter (who was cared for by Munro’s fiancé during her hospital stay) was elated when Munro was released from hospital.
“She was blocked from most of the information,” says Munro about her daughter. “She didn’t know too much because she was still in school and we wanted her to focus on being a child… she’s very sensitive and doing quite well considering she lost all her stuff.”
Munro and her family were temporarily put up in a nearby hotel and a GoFundMe account was set up to help them get back on their feet. The account was reported fraudulent and removed from the site after online accusations began to surface, blaming Munro for the cause of the fire and displacement of over 100 tenants.
“It’s heart wrenching, sad, and pathetic people want to point the blame… it truly was an accident that I wasn’t apart of,” says Munro. “I just wanted to save my dogs and I almost died!”
Munro adds that she suffers PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from the ordeal and has to re-live the moment every day as she replays the scenario in her head over and over.
“They still don’t know the cause of the fire, and honestly, I have no idea either," says Munro. “It’s ridiculous and scary… I always spend my life trying to help people and give back, I’m big-hearted… I keep asking, why me?”
Munro says she hasn't had much support and feels like the "black sheep" of the community.
Shortly after the fire, Munro’s fiancé was interviewed on TV, defending Munro from the online rumours about her being responsible for the fire.
“It was beautiful to see him stand up for me and have my back – he’s such a good man!” says Munro.
Munro has spent the last several weeks trying to find a new home. Thankfully, she was able to find somewhere for her and her family to stay.
“All these people still have their belongings in their place, my place was completely torched and I almost died!” exclaims Munro.
“Regardless of the situation, don’t run into a fire for anything! Best thing to do is stay back and call 911. I could have easily died in that fire just for going after my dogs… if you have pets, yes they’re your fur babies but your life is truly more important… especially if you have children, you gotta be there for your kids and not be a hero.”
A new GoFundMe account has been set up for the family. To donate, click here.
