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Raj Rajsankar lay unconscious on the kitchen floor, trapped under two chairs, as fire and smoke quickly ripped through his Queens home yesterday.
As the men from Engine 270 in Kew Gardens held the flames back with water, Firefighter Richard Napolitano ventured inside the Richmond Hill house.
The 15-year FDNY veteran - and proud father of a Marine stationed in Iraq - dropped to his knees and crawled into the burning kitchen, unable to see even an inch ahead.
Six others already had escaped the blaze at 87-72 125th St., including Kowsilla Mangal, 49, who leaped out a window and was in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital last night.
But Napolitano wanted to make sure no one was left.
"I swept the floor until I felt [Rajsankar's] feet," Napolitano, of Engine 294 in Woodhaven, told the Daily News. "He was moaning, so I knew he was still alive."
Careless smoking caused the 5a.m. blaze, which also injured a child, four adults and a firefighter, an FDNY spokesman said.
Napolitano and Lt. John Joy carried Rajsankar down the steps that lead onto the street, where paramedics labored to keep him alive.
Rajsankar, 41, has second- and third-degree burns over 90% of his body, firefighters said. He was in critical but stable condition last night at the Weill Cornell burn unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.
"Our job as firefighters is to save lives," Napolitano said. "I'm glad that I could help him."
Napolitano also has helped some 200 Marines who serve alongside his son, Joseph, outside Ramadi, in Iraq.
He sends them hoods that firefighters use to keep their ears, forehead and neck from being burned during a blaze. In Iraq, the hoods protect the soldiers' necks during sandstorms and help shield their faces from shrapnel.
"I've been collecting old hoods from the firemen," Napolitano said. "Firemen from all over the city are helping out."
The young Napolitano, who was hit in the arm by shrapnel during combat, was awarded the Purple Heart last week.
He hopes to be back home in time for his wedding, set for March.
With Tom Raftery |
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