Bx. fire hero mourned
Selflessness in Army man’s nature: kin
The nearly two months that have passed since Army National Guard Pfc. Emmanuel Mensah died a hero in a Bronx inferno have done little to ease his family’s pain.
Mensah, 28, was mourned Saturday at a funeral Mass presided over by Timothy Cardinal Dolan — at which loved ones hailed the characteristic selflessness that cost the soldier his life.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church was packed with friends and family, many wearing colors from Mensah’s native Ghana, and with fellow members of the military who praised his heroism.
Mensah died on Dec. 28 while helping neighbors escape from his five-story apartment building while it was engulfed in flames.
He reportedly rushed in and out of the burning building four times, helping to rescue a family of six, including four children, before succumbing to the fast-moving flames.
He was among 13 people killed in the city’s deadliest fire in more than a quarter-century.
Members of the city Fire Department lined 187th Street as Mensah’s flagdraped coffin was brought into the church, an honor rarely accorded to a nonfirefighter.
His sacrifice reflected his actions throughout his life, family and friends said.
“He was always wanting to help people,” said his father, Kwabena Mensah, 62. “That’s his nature. He was nice and helpful to everyone.”
Mensah’s aunt, Kommey, said in Sherri her eu- logy, “How can I put in words everything that you meant to us? How do I sum up everything about you in a few words for the page? I couldn’t and I still can’t.”
Kommey told The Post she wasn’t surprised when she learned her nephew went back into a burning building to help others.
“Whenever you needed help with anything, he was there,” she said. “He is going to leave a hole in my heart and the whole family’s hearts.”
Augustina Asare, 54, who raised Mensah in Ghana after his mother died in childbirth when he was 12, told The Post, “He told me one day he would make me proud.”
The day didn’t come in the way she expected, she added, but she was touched when she was presented with the American flag that draped his coffin.
Mensah, who immigrated in 2012, worked for American Airlines for five years before enlisting in the Army National Guard. He was home for a holiday break after completing basic training in Georgia when the fire broke out.
On Friday, Mensah was posthumously awarded the Soldier’s Medal and the New York State Medal for Valor. He was buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, where he received a 21-gun salute.