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Late-night fires are always the toughest, because they usually get a head start on Firefighters. It was after midnight and many residents had settled in for the night, when at 0052 hours, Squad 270 received a telephone alarm to respond first due to a report of a fire at 87-08 126th Street in the Jamaica section of Queens. Lieutenant James P. Ellson was covering in Squad 270 for the tour and was very impressed with the quick turnout that had them arriving within minutes of the alarm. As FF Joseph Vaccaro, Squad 270 chauffeur, wheeled the rig onto 126th Street, he and Lieutenant Ellson realized that their Company was going to be put to a real test. Heavy smoke was billowing under pressure from the second and third floor of an occupied, three-story multiple dwelling. Every second was precious, as evidenced by a man at the second-floor window. The smoke enveloping the man was so thick and black that it appeared to be pushing him out the window. After transmitting a 10-75, Lieutenant Ellson ordered the members of Squad 270 to stretch a line as he raced into the building to try and reach the victim. Reaching the second floor, the Lieutenant encountered a heavy smoke condition and a locked door to the fire apartment. Alone and without any forcible entry tools, he forced the apartment door with his shoulder and immediately was driven to the floor by the intense heat and smoke that were being drawn toward him. Lieutenant Ellson now had to crawl on his stomach, down the 20-foot hallway, toward the rear of the building, under severe conditions and without the protection of a hand-line. At the end of the hallway, he encountered a room heavily involved with fire. Crawling into this room with fire racing overhead and flashover imminent, Lieutenant Ellson found 37-year-old Kumar Bisram, who was draped semi-conscious over the windowsill that now had fire venting out the top. The victim had second- and third-degree burns to his body. The intense heat overhead demanded that the Lieutenant drag Mr. Bisram to keep him low and near the floor. Just as they exited the room, the fire blew out the door and chased them down the hall. Dragging Mr. Bisram down the hall back to the interior stairs, Lieutenant Ellson handed him off to the members of Squad 270, who were flaking out the line and waiting for water. Realizing that there might be other victims trapped, Lieutenant Ellson crawled back down the hallway a second time. Now the fire was venting into the hallway with full force. The Lieutenant crawled past the flames lapping out of the fully involved room. He found 50-year-old Jairam Krishna collapsed on the floor. The swiftly advancing flames gave Lieutenant Ellson no choice but to drag this victim past the fire, shielding him with his own body, back down the hall to the interior stairs. The members of Squad 270 now had water as Lieutenant Ellson passed Mr. Krishna down the interior stairs. The Lieutenant now led the advance of his Company as FF MacGregor, Squad 270 nozzleman, made an aggressive push down the hall, extinguishing the roaring fire in the apartment. By the time Squad 270 had fully extinguished the flames, the two men whose lives Lieutenant Ellson had saved were in the hands of EMS personnel and on their way to Jamaica Hospital to be treated for burns and smoke inhalation. Were it not for his quick actions and selfless courage in the face of grave danger, both men would have been lost in the rapidly advancing wall of flames. Because of the courage and fortitude he displayed, at unusual personal risk, the FDNY is proud to present the Hugh Bonner Medal to Lieutenant James P. Ellson.--JT |
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Hugh
Bonner Medal
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