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NEW YORK (CBS) - Two young boys from Brooklyn were fighting for their lives Sunday morning. Just hours after firefighters rescued them from a burning building, their mother was arrested, accused of leaving them home alone.
"She's pretty much hysterical and crying that her kids are up in the apartment," FDNY Lt. Bill Croak, one of the rescuers on-scene, said.
Firefighters found the mother screaming outsider her Brooklyn home about the two small children trapped inside.
"With kids, it's always a bit more adrenaline flowing," Lt. Croak said.
Lieutenant Croak was one of the first firemen to enter the building, feeling his way up a smoke-filled stairway and into the burning two-bedroom apartment upstairs.
"Visibility was pretty much down to zero, so it was kind of search by feel and use a thermal camera," Lt. Croak said.
But even the thermal camera, which picks up on body heat, couldn't see everything.
Firefighters entered the room and found one child on top of a mattress, but they couldn't see the child underneath because of thick padding. The firefighters were able to find that child by feel alone.
"When you find someone – especially a kid – it gets you going," Lt. Croak said. "It's pretty exciting, especially when you get them outside and bring them back to life. It's really good."
Both children – boys aged two and four years old – were quickly brought out of the burning building. Firefighters used CPR and brought both back to life before rushing them off to the hospital.
"They were both unconscious, no breathing, no pulse," FDNY Lt. Bill Croak told the New York Post. "They were brought back to life and they were crying and breathing on their own when they left."
"It turned out to have a happy ending as of right now," firefighter Phil Peterson said.
Only hours later, though, investigators learned that the fires may have started while the two small children were home alone.
Mother Milagros Perez, 36, allegedly left her two sons, two-year-old Ezekiel Perez and four-year-old Reynaldo Jr., alone for 25 minutes. There was no word of charges against the boys' father, Reynaldo Perez, who reportedly said, "I'm just glad my boys are OK."
Milagros Perez has now been arrested, and is facing two counts of child endangerment.
Both of the children are in critical but stable condition in the Cornell burn unit Saturday night.
Police believe the mother left the home to go next door with her daughter at the time the fire broke out.
CBS 2HD's Ross Palombo contributed to this report.
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