Jayla Jenkins, 25, was charged with abandoning a child.
Court documents say she had left food cooking on a stove.
Christopher Norori, a neighbor, told Eyewitness News that he heard a loud bang and later smelled smoke, which he said he could also see through a window.
He said he summoned another neighbor who raced to the leasing office to grab a fire extinguisher while Norori broke down the door.
Norori said that at that point, Jenkins came running, screaming for her children.
He said they searched the apartment together and found the 2-year-old alone in a bedroom.
Jenkins was released from jail without having to pay her bond.
Neighbors say she has other children.
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