Two rookie FDNY firefighters were involved with the rescue of three people early Thursday.
Firefighters were called to the 64th Street and 11th Avenue around 2:15 a.m. and found a chaotic scene, an FDNY fire spokesman said. A man who escaped was frantic, telling firefighters his wife and two children were trapped inside.
“People were screaming in the driveway that there’s a baby in the basement by the window bars, so I knew we had to get in there quickly," Capt. Christopher Kane said in a statement.
Kane, from Ladder 149, and his probationary firefighters Dominic DiBiase and Christopher Rossi entered the burning building.
"When we got to the base of the stairs the fire rolled over our heads, and I instructed Probationary Firefighter Dominic DiBiase to knock the fire down with the can (fire extinguisher) which just barely allowed us to make the push into the back bedrooms."
The crew found two patients inside the bedroom and shut the door as conditions deteriorated in the hallway.
"We shut the door and had the window bars removed, and we passed the patients up over the top of the wall to get them out," said Kane.
“Once the two patients that Captain Kane and Firefighter Rossi tended to were safely outside, I pushed into the next bedroom and found another patient," DiBiase said. "I gave a transmission and removed the patient the same way we came in, because members from Engine 247 were operating at this point and made it safe for me to exit.”
The woman and two boys, ages 2 and 6, were rushed to the hospital.
“Both units operated as a team and the operation went very fast," said Battalion Chief James Brennan." Everyone was in the right position and they took all the correct actions, given that it was a highly emotionally charged situation. All the residents and neighbors were screaming but the team kept their cool.”
