Firefighters from Ladder 108 Rescue Man from an Apartment Fire

It was a dangerous fire that could have ended in tragedy, if it weren’t for the courageous acts of firefighters from Ladder 108.

Lieutenant John Sullivan and his team, including Firefighters Robert Clarke, Richard Cadotte and Tim Morenzoni, risked their lives to save an elderly, handicapped man from a raging apartment fire in Brooklyn on November 14.

The fire, on the 14th floor of a high-rise apartment building at 67 Manhattan Avenue, was first reported at 8:48 a.m.

The building was not far from the quarters of Ladder 108 and Lt. Sullivan said he could see the haze from the fire when as they pulled out of the firehouse.

“I knew we had something right away,” he said.

As firefighters arrived on the scene, they received reports of a trapped resident. The firefighters quickly made their way to the fire apartment and found heavy flames and black smoke inside.

“All you saw was fire,” said Lt. Sullivan.

He said he lay on the floor to see beneath the thick smoke and saw the patio door was open. So Firefighter Morenzoni held the flames back with a water can as the lieutenant dove through the flames to the balcony.

There he found the 75-year-old victim crouched against the wall on the patio as flames roared over his head and smoke poured out of the apartment windows. He added that the patio was fenced in so, “it’s like he was in a lobster trap. He was in a precarious position.

So Lt. Sullivan covered the victim with his bunker coat to shield him from the intense heat. He then removed his air mask and placed it on the elderly man to help him breathe.

The Lieutenant stayed with the victim until the fire was extinguished. Members of Engine 217 then carried the victim downstairs to awaiting EMS members, who transported him to Woodhull Medical Center in stable condition.

The fire was contained to the single apartment and was deemed under control at 9:19 a.m. Fire marshals determined the fire was caused by a lit match that was dropped, igniting the curtains.

“It all happened very quickly,” Lt. Sullivan said. “I’m glad it ended well.”

Lt. Sullivan is a 15 year veteran of the FDNY and received a citation for another daring rescue in 1995, when he helped save two women from a fire in East New York.