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Baby sitter gets kids to safety as apartment fire rages A 16-year-old baby sitter shepherded three young children safely out of an east Medford apartment Saturday evening after a fire broke out in a back bedroom. According to Medford fire officials, the teenage girl was caring for children ages 4, 2 and 1 at an apartment at 800 Ellendale Drive when she noticed smoke in the bedroom about 6 p.m. After evacuating the children, the baby sitter returned to the apartment to extinguish the fire but was forced out by smoke. Neighbors are collecting donations for the family, whose apartment was heavily damaged in the fire. Firefighters arrived at the Ellendale complex about 6:03 p.m., finding thick, black smoke billowing out the ground-floor apartment�s front door. Flames also shot out a back window, striking a window on a second-floor apartment. Fire officials said crews had the blaze in control within three minutes, preventing flames from spreading further in the 85-unit complex. The ground-floor apartment, however, was heavily damaged, fire officials said. Damages were estimated at $38,000. The family has been moved to another unit in the same complex, fire officials said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.