WASHINGTON-- One neighbor called them all heroes. DC Fire and EMS Chief Dennis Rubin agrees. Rubin thinks two boys, ages four and six, are alive thanks to firefighters and medics.
The fire broke out at 2400 Alabama Avenue in Southeast just after 6:00 Sunday morning. A neighbor ran to the firehouse just a block away.
Within minutes Sgt. Danny McCoy, assigned to Truck 16, had found the two boys in a back bedroom and handed them over to other firefighters and medics. EMS Lt. Edward Winslow said the boys were in respiratory arrest. That means they weren't breathing, but their hearts were still beating.
Firefighter/Paramedic Dave Brown and Firefighter Paul Ridgely and others worked on the children. Brown and Ridgely said after about five minutes of pushing oxygen into their lungs the boys started to show improvement. Lt. Winslow believes the prognosis is good.
Chief Rubin says it is unclear who, if anyone, was with the children when the fire broke out. Rubin says the fire started in the kitchen.
Republished with permission of WUSA-TV.
