Feb. 17, 2023 “This was a very close call for the FDNY. We could have lost three members today.”
Source Firehouse.com News
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh reported that 22 firefighters were hurt, three seriously, while battling a fire in Arden Heights on Staten Island.
“I cannot emphasize enough that this was a very close call for the FDNY. We could have lost three members today,” Kavanagh told reporters.
According to CBS 2 New York, the fire started in a two-family home on Shotwell Avenue at around 1:30 p.m and quickly grew to four alarms.
An FDNY official confirmed part of the home collapsed, but firefighters “were not trapped in the collapse.”
“Members were trapped in the heavy fire,” said FDNY Chief Brian Gorman.
Kavanagh was joined by other fire department officials, along with doctors at Staten Island University Hospital.
“It was thanks to the brave work of our members, including those who went in and saved their fellow firefighters, rescued the trapped members, brought them to EMS on scene who treated them immediately, and brought them to this hospital, who treated them right away, which is why we are here to say that they are stable while critical, but that they are going to be OK,” she told reporters.
FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens said, “There was a heavy wind condition at the fire, so as the firefighters were inside searching for occupants, the windows failed and the wind blew the fire intensely into the building right at the firefighters.
“So all of them became trapped by fire. One was able to make their way to a balcony and jump off the second floor balcony down into the driveway. And one transmitted a mayday signal that he was in distress, and he was on the second floor.”
That lieutenant was rescued.
“All in all, we’re very happy to report that the members are in stable condition. It was definitely what we consider a close call today,” Hodgens said.