Man survives fourth-floor jump onto rescue cushion during Wejherowo apartment fire
A resident jumped from a fourth-floor window onto an inflatable cushion in Wejherowo on Friday morning as six fire crews responded and evacuated nine people from the building.
Emergency response at Osiedle Kaszubskie
On the morning of Friday, 28 August 2026, a fire broke out inside a residential apartment in the town of Wejherowo, located in Poland's Pomeranian Voivodeship. Emergency dispatchers received notifications shortly before 6:00 AM as residents of Osiedle Kaszubskie witnessed flames erupting from the fourth-floor windows of a multi-family residential building. Six fire service units responded to the emergency, consisting of four crews from the State Fire Service (PSP) and two crews from the Volunteer Fire Service (OSP) in Wejherowo. Upon reaching the address, emergency personnel discovered an active blaze spreading through the fourth-floor flat, with heavy smoke accumulating rapidly inside the shared staircase and blocking internal escape paths.
Rescue operation and cushion deployment
The occupant of the burning fourth-floor apartment found himself in immediate physical danger after flames and dense smoke blocked access to the apartment's exit door. Because firefighters on the ground were unable to deploy a mechanical turntable ladder or aerial lift, the incident commander ordered the immediate placement of an inflatable rescue cushion beneath the building facade. Crews simultaneously deployed two extinguishing lines, directing one water stream toward the exterior windows and carrying a second hose line into the interior of the building to suppress the flames. With no other route to escape the growing fire, the trapped man jumped from the fourth-floor balcony window directly onto the deployed rescue cushion below.
- State Fire Service (PSP)
- 4 crews
- Volunteer Fire Service (OSP)
- 2 crews
Evacuation of building residents
While emergency personnel completed the aerial cushion rescue, additional firefighters moved through the smoke-filled stairwell to evacuate neighboring occupants from the residential section. A total of nine residents, including one child, were evacuated from the building during the emergency response to prevent smoke inhalation and further harm. Paramedics immediately attended to the man after the cushion absorbed his fall, and he was transported to a local hospital for medical observation. Emergency services confirmed that the resident suffered no life-threatening injuries and that none of the other evacuated tenants sustained serious harm during the incident.
- Dispatchers receive calls shortly before 6:00 AM reporting fire on the fourth floor.
- Fire crews deploy internal and external water lines and set up a rescue cushion.
- A resident jumps onto the cushion while responders evacuate nine people from the building.
- Firefighters extinguish the blaze and police initiate an inquiry into the cause.
Fire containment and police investigation
The dual-line firefighting tactic enabled the six deployed crews to contain the fire before it could penetrate adjacent apartments or spread vertically through the residential structure. Junior Aspirant Grzegorz Hinz, press officer for the County Headquarters of the State Fire Service in Wejherowo, confirmed that the emergency operation concluded successfully without additional casualties. A resident-recorded video published by the regional news portal nadmorski24.pl captured both the firefighting intervention and the moment the man jumped onto the safety cushion. Local police officers and fire department investigators have initiated an investigation to establish the specific cause and ignition point of the fourth-floor blaze.
