(Washington, DC)

left to right: Claude Brown Truck 16, Jonathan Davis, Raymond Eggleston Engine 32, Velencia Robinson, Dominique Cunningham, Ethan Cunningham, David Cunningham, Ray Fowler

Ebony Cunningham never expected the firefighters who rescued her from her burning apartment organized an open house in her honor. It was a special day at Engine 32's firehouse with food and fun for children.

Two days before Christmas last year, a fire started in Cunningham's Christmas tree. She lived with her four children on the top floor of a three-story building in the 2300 block of Jasper Road, SE. A passerby, Eric Conyers, saw the commotion and stood under the window as Cunningham dropped her children, ages five months to six years, out the window into Conyers' arms. As the baby was dropped to safety, firefighters from Truck 16 and Engine 32 arrived to help Cunningham and her boyfriend out the window and down the ladder to safety.

Firefighters presented Cunningham with a plaque commemorating her courage, and they also presented her with a $400 check to help her make Christmas this year even more special.