DEATH DEFYING
Bravest dangle from roof, save 5-yr.-old girl
A pair of death-defying firefighters rappelled down the side of a burning Manhattan building to rescue a 5-yearold girl and a second victim trapped on the top floor early Tuesday by a raging blaze one story below, officials said.
Firefighters pulled a dozen people to safety after the massive fire erupted on the fifth floor of the six-story apartment house, leaving some upstairs residents pinned inside the W. 158th St. building in Washington Heights, officials said.
The blaze was sparked by an overloaded extension cord, fire marshals later determined.
Desperate screams from the apartment windows were heard by neighbors fleeing the 4:30 a.m. smoke and flames as the daring firefighters ascended to the roof to start their dramatic rescues.
“We saw a little girl’s hands on the window guards,” recounted hero Firefighter Abraham Miller of Ladder 80-Engine 23 after rescuing the child. “The grandmother was holding her up to try to get her out just so she could breathe. We
A pair of building resithe dents predawn said dtt the screams darkness from as the top floor echoed through people ran door-to-door, banging loudly to make sure everyone escaped.
“It feels like your body goes into adrenaline, just like fight or flight,” said resident JJess Suriano, 23, who bolted ddown the stairs to safety.
A neighbor in a building across the street, after wakinng to the sounds of sirens and screams, peered out the sixth-floor window of her sister’s apartment to see the jjust jumpedjp into action.” had two,” said FDNY Comnnearby apartment engulfed
Miller described a chaotic missioner Daniel Nigro. in flames. scene of fire and fear as the “There were multiple people “The firefighters were raging flames shot out the trapped above the fire in exsmashing windows. I don’t fifth-floor windows below: treme conditions of heat and know how many people they “A little girl screaming, adults smoke. Our members aggressaved,” said Francisca Rivera, screaming and needing ressively entered the building, 54. “The firefighters, God cue.” pushed forward and worked bless them. They’re lifesav
The firefighterers.”waslow-togethertoputouttworoof ered by rope to the window ropes.” More than 100 firefighters where the girl was leaning Witness Noel Gonzalez were called in to battle the out. He pulled her from the saw firefighters rescue sevinferno. The apartment apartment and delivered her eral kids, along with a man where the blaze broke out to the ground, with the girl’s paralyzed with fear on a fire had an operational smoke grandmother steered to safeescape before he was led to alarm, officials said. ty by firefighters inside the safety by the FDNY. FDNY Chief Thomas apartment. “Terrifying,” Gonzalez Richardson, the depart
About the same time, a said. ment’s chief of fire operasecond firefighter rappelled Fourteen people were intions, said firefighters train over the side to rescue anothjured in the fire and taken to for roof rescues once a week er resident poised to leap area hospitals for treatment, but need to do them infrefrom a sixth-floor window, officials said. One victim’s inquently. officials said. juries were considered life“We may average about
“It’s rare enough to have threatening, while the little one a year, and we’ve had one roof rope deployed down girl and the rest suffered serithree so far this year,” Richthe side of a building, but we ous to minor injuries. ardson said.