'It's an amazing rescue': Hero NY firefighter risks life to save mom and child trapped in apartment fire
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Several individuals were injured as a result of an apartment building fire that broke out in the Bronx early on October 23, Sunday morning. Firefighters at roughly 10.45 am, according to FDNY officials, due to a fire on the fifth floor of the five-story apartment building at 1316 Morris Avenue. Officials said that the Bronx Bravest bravely saved a mother and child after responding to an emergency call.
"We got a knock at the front door — a panicked civilian banging on the door saying there was a fire up the street," FDNY Captain Stephen Elliott of Engine 92/Ladder 44 reported the incident to New York Post. "As soon as we pulled out of the firehouse, we saw the smoke coming from the top floor of the building." Lt John Vanderstar, one of the initial smoke eaters, heard voices coming from the fifth-floor apartment's back bedroom where the flames were burning.
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Elliot went on to say of Vanderstar, "So he made the decision before the arrival of an engine company to move past the fire, which is a very difficult and calculated move. He ducked below the fire in his full protective gear and self-contained breathing apparatus and shot down the hallway to the rear bedroom and found an adult woman and a child."
The incident swiftly became a second-alarm fire, demanding the arrival of 25 units and 106 fire fighters. At that moment, firefighters were carrying their hoses to the top floor. Vanderstar flung open a window and drew the mother and child closer to it as they waited for their path to clear. "He opened the window and tried to bring them closer to the window so they could have some fresh air while 42 Engine was extinguishing the fire," Elliot said.
Officials claimed that the firefighters Carlos Acevedo and Jerry Cash took out the mother while Vanderstar carried the infant down the inside stairs of the building. Elliot said, "If [the mother and child] were in that apartment for another minute or two, they most likely had no chance of survival. It's an amazing rescue." The fire was deemed under control at 11.21 am. The mother and infant were taken to Lincoln Hospital in good health. The cause will be looked at by fire marshals.
