Firefighters with the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) made three rope rescues at a deadly two-alarm fire today in Harlem.
The fire was on the third floor of the building at St. Nicholas Place, trapping people in the hallways above, said FDNY First Deputy Commissioner Joseph Pfeifer. Firefighters made three rope rescues from the fifth floor (one of the firefighters who made a grab was reportedly a probie). A total of18 people were injured, five of them critically. One person subsequently passed away at the hospital.
According to the Daily News, one person fell to the ground after dangling from the building.
FDNY crews arrived to find numerous people on fire escapes attempting to flee the flames on the building’s upper floors, reported FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens. As engine companies commenced fire attack, interior truck companies found three victims unconscious on the building’s upper floors; the victims were quickly removed and transported by EMS.
