Firefighter Thomas R. Elsasser Memorial Medal

Ladder Company 138

December 15, 2004, 0244 hours, Box 22-7889, 37-52 89th Street, Queens

Captain Daniel T. Mundy (Division 14)
FF Steven J. Muller
FF Joseph J. Tarantini
FF Victor J. Rosa
FF Rod J. Ford
FF Brian W. Cullen

It was 0244 hours on a cold Wednesday morning on December 15, 2004. Marcia Zumba and her brother had gone to bed the night before around 11:30 p.m., inadvertently leaving a candle burning on the radiator inside their apartment, 2F, at 37-52 89th Street, Queens. The next thing Ms. Zumba remembers is being awakened by shouts of “fire, fire” and “fuego.”

The curtains above the candle had caught fire and the entire living room was engulfed in smoke and flames. In their haste to escape the inferno, brother and sister left the apartment door open, endangering all those living in the building. Numerous phone calls to 911 were received from trapped occupants of this six-story building.

Captain Dan Mundy and the night tour from Ladder Company 138 were dispatched to Box 22-7889. Arriving second-due at the location, the fire now was outside the apartment and threatening the entire second-floor public hallway.

Ladder 138 was assigned to the floor above the fire, the most dangerous place to be. Ladder 138 members were about to be put to the test on this job. As a result of the smoke door being closed to protect the attack stairway, the dense heat and thick smoke now were being funneled to the floor above the fire, putting the members of the ladder company in a perilous position.

Despite the horrendous conditions, the members, under the leadership of their Captain, crawled through the intense heat and smoke and began a search of the hallway and the apartments that aligned it. The first member of the company to make it through the heat and smoke was FF Brian Cullen, who had the can. He found an unconscious male in front of the elevator, the first of what ultimately would total 17 10-45 victims. FF Cullen dragged this victim back to the safety of the interior stairway and other Ladder 138 members. He went back into the heat and smoke to recover another unconscious victim and repeat his rescue actions.

Meanwhile, FF Joseph Tarantini, on the irons, began carrying the victims down the three flights of stairs to the safety of members in the street. He, too, returned to the floor above and recovered another victim and brought him to the street level.

Captain Mundy was directing the rescue operation from the third-floor hallway, while continuing his search for victims inside the apartments on this floor. The outside vent Firefighter, FF Victor Rosa, and LCC, FF Steven Muller, had entered a third-floor apartment via the 35-foot ladder, to rescue several more badly burnt victims.

The Ladder 138 roof Firefighter, FF Rod Ford, had teamed up with the roof Firefighter from Rescue 4, to comfort and rescue victims trapped inside their sixth-floor apartment. All these heroic and selfless actions were taking place on the floor above a raging and uncontrolled fire.

The leadership, teamwork and bravery exhibited this day exemplify what the New York City Fire Department is prepared to do every day for the citizens of New York City. It is for this reason that Ladder Company 138 members are presented with the Firefighter Thomas R. Elsasser Memorial Medal on this day.—RMcC