BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn -- They're being called heroes, but they call themselves just guys doing their job.
No matter what they're called, though, a trio of firefighters is to thank for rushing into a burning apartment and saving the life of a disabled woman before fire hoses could be unrolled to pour water on the flames.
The firefighters from FDNY Ladder 120, based in Brownsville, responded at around 9:50 on Wednesday morning to an apartment on the fourth floor of a NYCHA high-rise at 315 Sutter Avenue.
The ladder company's motto is Nobody Does It Better, and Dahlia Miles, who lives next door to the apartment that caught fire, said that the firefighters lived up to their nickname in a big way.
"That was awesome, that was great," she said, referring to the firefighters' quick response, "because she would've died in there."
Specifically, Miles was talking about a woman who lives next door to her on the fourth floor. The woman, said neighbors, was not able to walk and was trapped, unconscious, in the apartment's intense flames.
The next-door neighbor in the apartment on the other side of the one that caught fire described a dangerous scene.
"I hear the fire alarm," he said, "and I thought I was dreaming."
The man, who did not want to give his name, called 911 after the woman's daughter, son-in-law and two children came to his door, screaming about their loved one.
"She keeps saying her mother is there," the neighbor said, pointing to the apartment next door, "they keep saying a lady's in the other room over on the other side."
"'You all get the lady,' I was telling [firefighters]," the man said.
Fire Lt. Salvatore Mirra led Firefighters Connor Norman and Chris Farra into Apartment 4-B before the fire crew could unroll their water hoses. There was thick smoke all around them.
"So we didn't have a hose line to protect us at that time," said Lt. Mirra, "but as I said, we knew somebody was in there, so we couldn't wait."
They transported the woman, whose name was not released, in serious condition. The fire, whose smoke spread widely across the floor, injured nine people in total.
Neighbors said it could have been unthinkably worse if not for the quick work of the firefighters they called heroes.
"It's another day in the office for us here," said Mirra. "It's our job, it's our life. So, are we heroes? Some might say so, but to us, it's a job, and we love doing it."
English (US) ·