FIRE in the Rockaways...

[E40FDNYL35]

For five harrowing minutes, three Queens firefighters were trapped yesterday in a wind-whipped inferno, with flames and blinding black smoke blocking their escape. Frantic Mayday calls echoed over the radio as the fire - so hot it melted the brass nozzle of a hose - threatened to race through the hallways of a Rockaways housing project. As temperatures surged to 1,500 degrees, a dozen firefighters were injured, including two Bravest who suffered burns on their hands and arms. The stranded men eventually found refuge in an apartment, leaving FDNY brass to shudder about the close call, which came barely a year after the Black Sunday disaster that forced two firefighters to jump to their death in the Bronx. "It doesn't get much worse than this," Battalion 47 Chief George Healy said, explaining how an open window and door had turned a small electrical blaze into a fireball. "It creates a blowtorch."The fire ignited shortly before 2 p.m. in a sixth-floor bedroom of the Beach 41st St. Houses in the Rockaways, one of the windiest areas of the city. A space heater plugged into a cheap surge protector apparently overloaded, and flames began to engulf the apartment. The building is fire resistant, with masonry walls and steel doors, so the blaze should have been easily contained - but a fleeing tenant had flung open the windows and door.
Winds gusting at 40 mph fed the flames, and when firefighters from Engines 265 and 264 and Ladders 121 and 134 got to the apartment, they were quickly beaten back. "It's basically blowing the fire on top of them," an FDNY official said. "It was a very dangerous condition. Wind was coming in from every direction. It was just whipping around the building."
As the Bravest retreated, three firefighters from Ladder 121 and Engine 264 were trapped at the end of the hall, FDNY Assistant Chief Robert Sweeney said. A Mayday call went out, and for several minutes the men had nowhere to go in the smoky darkness. Five minutes later, they got a tenant to open an apartment door and slipped inside. Firefighters outside the building, meanwhile, threw a blanket over the window of the burning apartment, starving the flames. The fire was under control by around 3:30 p.m.
Eight civilians suffered minor injuries, but most residents were grateful to emerge alive. "I thought - I'm going to be a goner," said Larry Johnson, 18, a sixth-floor tenant who firefighters rescued through a window. "I was screaming for my dear life.... It was like hell.... I couldn't breathe for a moment. Then I said, 'It can't end like this.' I'm thankful to be alive."

[FFFRED]

Thank god the brothers made it. Another great example of why not to go into a high-rise out-gunned. These guys had the best equipment and tools and they still couldn't beat back the forces of mothernature...no fog stream or 1 3/4 handline would have protected them here. Use this as a lesson for everyone.

Just another bunch of underutilized firemen not being productive enough!

A Speedy recovery to the Brothers out in the Rockaways.

FTM-PTB

PS- This is a good time to remember Jimmy Williams Ladder Co.121 1/5/96 RIP
This fire could have gone south very quickly.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Lady Luck sided with our Brothers from the FDNY that day. Here's to a speedy recovery for the Brothers.

[S8ER95Z]

Stupid suggestion probably but couldn't you theoretically throw an massice blanket over a house (say with a helicopter or ladder truck) and just smother it out?

The idea or thought I was having was to cover the windows, etc so the air wasn't blowing in..

[FFFRED]

Stupid suggestion probably but couldn't you theoretically throw an massice blanket over a house (say with a helicopter or ladder truck) and just smother it out?

The idea or thought I was having was to cover the windows, etc so the air wasn't blowing in..

That is/was done...we've had the blankets for years. It is a time and manpower intensive operation and I've heard a few of them were used at this job...however the last resort was taken by spraying water from the outside into the fire apartment via aerial ladder. So far I've heard the blankets helped but it wasn't enough to allow a push down the hallway.

The only reason this would have been done was there were no other options as numerous attempts to make a push down the hallway were unsuccsesful and numerous civilians and firefighters were trapped as the hallway became untennable.

This is another lesson that everyone who claims anything less than a 2 1/2" or smoothbore is satisfactory at a standpipe job should take heed of...don't wait untill your dept has an unfortuneate experience such as this...odds are it won't end up as this one. Take the lessons that will keep you and your members alive. This fire was very small and got out of control once the windows blew out....it will turn on you in a second.

FTM-PTB

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Stupid suggestion probably but couldn't you theoretically throw an massice blanket over a house (say with a helicopter or ladder truck) and just smother it out?

The idea or thought I was having was to cover the windows, etc so the air wasn't blowing in..

That was an 12 story apartment house. The FDNY would need a couple of Sikorsky SkyCranes to lift something that massive!

[E40FDNYL35]

BROTHERS FRED is telling you the truth. Please learn this lesson. This type of fire can change in a NY minute. It happened to me a few years back and we (40 Engine) spent a few days in the burn center. 2 1/2 is the only way to go.

[RoughRider]

I'll Pray for a speedy recovery for the brothers. Lesson learned.

[E40FDNYL35]

Two members have been released from NCMU this morning.

[pfd4life]

BROTHERS FRED is telling you the truth. Please learn this lesson. This type of fire can change in a NY minute. It happened to me a few years back and we (40 Engine) spent a few days in the burn center. 2 1/2 is the only way to go.

Praying for the brothers...


If I may ask, who makes your smoothbores?

[E40FDNYL35]

Praying for the brothers...


If I may ask, who makes your smoothbores?

Akron

[MattyJ]

Two members have been released from NCMU this morning.

Now one of those released is going to the Burn Center at Cornell with serious facial burns...should'nt have been released. He came to the firehouse and his Lt. saw him (no bandages and dressings) and called EMS. At least he will now get the best possible care at The Cornell Burn Center. From what Ive heard, one of the guys would surley be dead, but the OVM from L-121 made a great move and got him out of the hallway, pulling him into an apartment.

[wag11c]

Good post, always need reminders of the hazards. Bless the brothers and thank you Jesus that they are well.

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

A TIMELY REMINDER IN CASE SOMEONE SAYS "IT'S OK TO BE TREATED AT ANY OLD HOSPITAL"

Guideline for Transfer of Patients to Burn Centers

The American Burn Association and the American College of Surgeons recommend transfer to a burn center for all acutely burned patients who meet any of the following criteria (Questions concerning specific patients should be resolved by consultation with the burn center physician):

Partial thickness burns >= 20% Total Body Surface Area (TBSA) in patients aged 10 - 50 years old.


Partial thickness burns >=10% TBSA in children aged 10 or adults aged 50 years old.


Full-thickness burns >= 5% TBSA in patients of any age.


Patients with partial or full-thickness burns of the hands, feet, face, eyes, ears, perineum, and/or major joints.


Patients with high-voltage electrical injuries, including lightning injuries.


Patients with significant burns from caustic chemicals.


Patients with burns complicated by multiple trauma in which the burn injury poses the greatest risk of morbidity or mortality. In such cases, if the trauma poses the greater immediate risk, the patient may be treated initially in a trauma center until stable before being transferred to a burn center. Physician judgment will be necessary in such situations and should be in concert with the regional medical control plan and triage protocols.


Patients with burns who suffer inhalation injury.


Patients with significant ongoing medical disorders that could complicate management, prolong recovery, or affect mortality.


Hospitals without qualified personnel or equipment for the care of children should transfer children with burns to a burn center with these capabilities.


Burn Injury in patients who will require special social/emotional and /or long-term rehabilitative support, including cases involving suspected child abuse, substance abuse, etc


GET WELL SOON!

[VinnieB]

Now one of those released is going to the Burn Center at Cornell with serious facial burns...should'nt have been released. He came to the firehouse and his Lt. saw him (no bandages and dressings) and called EMS. At least he will now get the best possible care at The Cornell Burn Center. From what Ive heard, one of the guys would surley be dead, but the OVM from L-121 made a great move and got him out of the hallway, pulling him into an apartment.

The same thing happened to a probie in E42 about 2 years ago. 2d and 3d degree burns to his legs. Jacobi Hospital released him....and the safety bn found him at the firehouse....they took him to Cornell and they kept him for about 2 weeks.........

sometimes I just dont understand......


But what really amazes me.....4 brothers have a really close call in Queens....and the big story for all the major NY news networks is how Opreah.....(spelling....I dont GAFF) was "duped".......again....i don't get it....

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

You should have seen the crying going on when Harpo (dats Oprah backwards) got preemted by the PRESIDENT.

[fireman4949]

Good post, always need reminders of the hazards. Bless the brothers and thank you Jesus that they are well.

AMEN Brother!




Kevin

[ChiefReason]

I love stories that are educational and have happy endings.
Good discussion too.
Glad everyone got out alive and are now receiving good care.
Hats off.
CR

[MattyJ]

The same thing happened to a probie in E42 about 2 years ago. 2d and 3d degree burns to his legs. Jacobi Hospital released him....and the safety bn found him at the firehouse....they took him to Cornell and they kept him for about 2 weeks.........

sometimes I just dont understand......


But what really amazes me.....4 brothers have a really close call in Queens....and the big story for all the major NY news networks is how Opreah.....(spelling....I dont GAFF) was "duped".......again....i don't get it....

I had a very simular experience at Jacobi....it is not a Burn Center; it has a Burn Unit. Very big difference.

Another true story...a volly from Long Island (several years ago) was severly burned trying to make a grab. Among his injuries were severly burned hands. He was brought to a Burn Unit on L.I. A few days later they were going to amputate his hands. A few good people got involved, including New York Firefighters Burn Center Foundation President Jimmy Curran (Lt. R-1, recently passed away). Long story short, he was transferred to Cornell...and still has good use of his hands.......Find out who the best is in your area, and make sure you or your loved ones are brought there if need be. If you dont have a quality center near by...fight for one.

[pfd4life]

You know, I love these stories...not for the entertainment value, as there is none, but fot the simple fact that it scares me enough to wake up out of my between fire mental lull.

MattyJ, excellent advice, we have a burn center to the south of us by about an hour or so. I've actually taken patients there that may have not needed it, but go because it's the best place tp be.