Two people hospitalised after jumping from window after Footscray apartment blaze

Two people jumped from a first floor apartment window in Footscray after an e-bike battery fire on Tuesday morning.

Firefighters battled the Macpherson St blaze for 20 minutes on Tuesday morning. Picture: Himangi Singh

Two people have jumped from a first floor apartment window in Footscray after an e-bike battery fire.

Smoke and flames were seen billowing from an apartment on Macpherson St just before 7am on Tuesday.

The fire broke out in an apartment building on Macpherson St. Picture: Google Maps

Two residents jumped to safety out their first floor window to avoid the flames.

Both residents were injured in the fall and taken to hospital by paramedics.

It’s understood the two people tied a white cloth to the window before jumping from the unit to escape the fire.

An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said both patients were transported to the Royal Melbourne Hospital, one with upper body injuries and the other with lower body injuries.

Firefighters battled the apartment blaze for 20 minutes to extinguish the fire.

Neighbour Mick Hasanagic said he saw big clouds of smoke coming from the building before he ran outside to see what was going on.

“There were a lot of firetrucks and smoke surrounding the entire area,” he said.

“I saw a man lying on the floor, he didn’t look like he was doing very well.”

Mr Hasanagic said the smell of burning batteries inundated the suburb with a foul smell.

“The firefighters asked me to back up because of the smoke being hazardous,” he said.

Commander Brett Hamill said the fire was caused by a charging lithium battery on a e-bike.