|
|
 |
 |
by SAM DOLNICK
Two Staten Island firefighters yesterday rescued an unconscious Brooklyn woman from a burning bed inside her fourth-floor apartment as flames rolled from the ceiling to the floor and burned the headboard.
Firefighters John Kroczynski and Daniel Gerrity, both of Ladder Co. 169 in Brooklyn, responded to the all-hands blaze at a Batchelder Street apartment building in Sheepshead Bay at about 7 a.m.
When they arrived, Kroczynski, 32, of South Beach, quickly realized the fire was coming from the fourth-floor apartment, and had Gerrity move the rig to the back so he could climb the ladder and reach the blaze.
Kroczynski opened the window and entered the bedroom, which was filled with smoke and had flames reaching from the ceiling to the floor on the right side of the room. The firefighter crawled along the floor, feeling with his hands for anyone inside, when he found a woman in her late 70s in the bed, parts of which were on fire. She was unconscious and in the fetal position.
Kroczynski radioed to Gerrity, 45, a Huguenot resident and a veteran with 23 years' experience, and asked him to climb the ladder and help him bring her down.
Ladder Co. 153 helped take her down to safety and the firefighters extinguished the blaze after about 30 minutes.
The woman was taken to Coney Island Hospital and later transferred to New York Weill Cornell Burn Center.
The Fire Department did not release her name or her condition, but the firefighters involved in the rescue said she was burned on about 40 percent of her body and had suffered smoke inhalation. They also said she was the mother of a police officer.
Kroczynski and Gerrity sustained minor injuries in the rescue. They were treated and released yesterday afternoon.
A Fire Department spokesman said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
Kroczynski played down the rescue. "Any other fireman would have done the same," he said. "We were just doing our job. You don't think about it, you just do it. Hopefully, if something happened to my family, people would do the same."
Gerrity admitted to satisfaction in saving a woman's life. "It's really a great feeling," he said. "It's very important anytime you can help somebody out."
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
