Ladder 161 in Coney Island responded within 6 minutes to the fire at 3194 Bayview Ave. at 6:30 this morning. And pulled the unidentified 20-year-old man out threw the window into a crane and brought him to safety. He was taken to Coney Island hospital where he is listed in critical but stable condition.
The company, nicknamed "the end of the line" for it's proximity to the end of the F subway line, is on the short list to be closed on July 1st as part of budget cuts from city hall.
"This person would clearly not be alive if Mayor Bloomberg had his way," said President Steve Cassidy of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, "What happened early this morning should show the administration that these companies are vital in every neighborhood and should not be closed."
Cassidy also said that the backup company, Ladder 169 arrived 6 and a half minutes after 161 and that if the were the primary responders, today's blaze could of had a far more bad outcome.
"They are misleading the public with figures," he said of city hall's claims that response times would not be severely impacted by the closings.
Ladder 161 serves a neighborhood that encompasses 2.5 miles of beach, one of the largest train yards in the city, the Belt Parkway, and some of the most diverse building structure types in the five boroughs.
They are also responsible for water rescue for the nearby beach and face getting their doors shuttered at the start of the summer season.
"We are needed here. We do a lot of rescues, said one firefighter who declined to give his name, "The mayor says that Coney Island will be busier than ever this summer with visitors then threatens to close us down. I'm not sure why this place is on the list."
Republished with permission of The New York Post
