The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Woman watched on Ring app as workers tried to save brother
MERIDEN — Shan Brown was on a cruise vacation when she realized her home was on fire by watching her Ring app as Good Samaritans broke down the front door to try to reach her younger brother last weekend, a city official said.
Tony Terzi, a spokesperson for the city, on Wednesday said Brown’s younger brother, Mekhi McLean, 17, is expected to make a full recovery after being seriously injured in the blaze.
McLean was listed in critical but stable condition at a New York City hospital after he was rescued from the burning house by firefighters, who scaled a 35-foot ladder to reach his third-floor room on Saturday.
The Good Samaritans, Newington plumber Dylan Saradeth and a coworker, have been hailed as “true heroes” for trying to reach McLean before they were forced out of the house as flames engulfed the first and second floors, officials said.
They were driving past the Broad Street house after finishing work in the area when they noticed black smoke, Saradeth said. Pulling over to help, they forced their way in through the locked front door with a pipe wrench.
“The Meriden Fire Department thanks them for their brave assistance,” said Ryan Dunn, deputy chief of the Meriden Fire Department.
Saradeth said he and his co-worker found several people watching TV on the second floor and told them they needed to escape. McLean was asleep on the third floor, so he wasn’t aware of the fire, according to Terzi.
The first firefighters at the scene tried to climb the stairs to McLean’s room, but were beaten back by the flames, according to Terzi. Two other firefighters were eventually able to circumvent the stairs by climbing a 35-foot ladder propped against the exterior of the house, Terzi said. When they arrived at the top, Terzi said, they broke a window to climb inside.
McLean lost consciousness in the fire and was whisked away by a waiting ambulance when he was finally removed from the house, according to Dunn. He was undergoing hyperbaric treatment at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx as of Sunday morning, Dunn said.
Four of the responding firefighters were injured, according to Terzi. Two sustained burns that will require further treatment, one suffered smoke inhalation and another experienced cardiac issues, Terzi said. They were all admitted to area hospitals and have since been released.
The house was destroyed in the blaze. Brown and her family are staying at a hotel while they search for permanent housing, according to Terzi.
“The community’s generosity has overwhelmed the family,” Terzi said.
Terzi said the city plans to hold a news conference about the fire, likely next week.