New York’s Bravest defended his title on Friday by rescuing three people hanging from the windows of a burning Harlem building in a dramatic and dangerous rescue using only a rope.
Wild footage shows firefighters fighting off the side of 2 St. Nicholas Place with civilians in their arms as a raging fire tore through an apartment building, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen others. It shows you doing it.
The fire broke out on the third floor of the six-story building around 2:15 p.m., authorities said, and quickly consumed the hallway, preventing residents on the upper floors from reaching the stairwell.
With no way out, the three residents fled to a window, only to realize there were no fire escapes to safely escape.
Before the FDNY arrived, a man was seen hanging from a fifth-floor window with smoke billowing from below.
Firefighters, struggling to reach the trapped New Yorkers, decided to use an unusual rescue method called the Evolution of the Lifeline.
This technique is conducted twice a week, but is typically only used by the FDNY once or twice a year.
FDNY Operations Director John Hodgens said, “Our members will be holding themselves up on ropes and another member will be climbing down the side of the building on the ropes and climbing down to the windows to get people trapped in the fire.” Ta. he said at a press conference.
One of the firefighters involved in the rare rescue is a probationary FDNY member with less than a year on the job.
“The same thing happened three times in this fire. Three firefighters carried out this evolution. Usually these happen once every one to two years. This is three fires at a time. It was a very heroic act,” Hodgens said.
Officials said the three were among five victims taken to the hospital in critical condition.
One of the five people, a 27-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the hospital.
The other four people were hospitalized in stable condition. A total of 18 people were treated for injuries, according to the FDNY.
Fire officials described the inferno as “difficult”, saying it occurred on the third floor and that an open door quickly overtook the hallway, preventing many of the residents above from escaping.
The fire was so intense that smoke eaters were unable to reach the fourth floor. Hodges said the FDNY typically begins fighting fires on floors above the floor where the fire started.
The engine company eventually extinguished some of the flames and allowed firefighters inside. There, they found three unconscious victims lying on the floor in the hallway above, and three hanging outside the window.
Hodges said at least one man who was hanging from a window fell just before the FDNY arrived. It is not clear if he is the man who died at the hospital.
Mr Hodgens praised the firefighters who carried out the daring rescue method safely.
Firefighter Jason Lopez said his team practices the evolution of life ropes every Monday and Tuesday in preparation for the rare event they have to use the training.
“We always train like the real thing. So when the real thing happens, we know what we’re doing,” Lopez said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
