Thomas E. Crimmins Medal

Firefighter John B. Veirun, Ladder Company 46

November 26, 2004, 0747 hours, Box 75-3567, 3034 Kingsbridge Terrace, Bronx

Appointed to the FDNY on May 17, 1998. Previously assigned to Battalion 27 and Engines 163 and 8. Member of the Holy Name and Emerald Societies. Recipient of a Class II rating for this incident. Resides in Pearl River, New York, with his wife, Margaret, and their children, Megan, Shane and Liam. A new baby is coming in October.

Hollywood has dramatized firefighting in many ways. The special effects are so dramatic and surreal that you sit in the theater seat and say to yourself, “This is just the movies. Nobody really does this.” On the morning of November 26, 2004, the movies came to life. Bronx Box 3567 came in at 0747 hours for a fire. The apparatus doors opened and Ladder 46 responded up the hill. Captain Michael McAndrew, commander in the truck for the tour, saw fire blowing out of the upper-floor windows of 3034 Kingsbridge Terrace. He transmitted a 10-75 signal.

The two-family house was unusual because the five-story building was built on the side of a hill that went from Kingsbridge Terrace through the block to West 231st Street. Ladder 46 circled the block and entered 231st Street where the access courtyard was to the fourth floor of the fire building, which was the fire floor.

Ladder 46 quickly reached the fire building and found the badly burned and barely conscious Selena Sanclemente lying in the front yard. Ms. Sanclemente, who was in excruciating pain, gasped out that her two children were still upstairs.

Captain McAndrew and FFs John Veirun (with the irons) and Brendan Fogerty (with the can) made a quick size-up of the scene. Fire was blowing out the front window and door and out the rear windows as they were responding, so the entire first floor was on fire. Heavy smoke was pushing out of the top-front windows. 3034 Kingsbridge Terrace was accessible only by a private walkway from 231st Street. Ladder 46’s bucket would not be able to reach the front of the building.

There was no engine company on the scene and it would be several minutes before Firefighters could safely go past the fire with the protection of a hose-line because the usual first two engine companies were at other Boxes. But there was no time to lose, so FF Veirun and the rest of the forcible entry team ran through the front door into the blazing inferno. In the words of witnesses at the scene, “I couldn’t believe they ran through that wall of fire.” They then found the open stairway leading to the upstairs bedrooms and ascended the stairs with the fire roaring all around them.

As the forcible entry team reached the top of the stairs, the stairway became completely involved in fire and virtually impassable. But the Firefighters focused on finding the Sanclemente children. The forcible entry team split up, with FF Veirun searching toward the rear bedroom. While searching in the rear hall, he found the unconscious two-year-old Sachiel Sanclemente. Cradling the toddler in his arms, Firefighter Veirun attempted to retrace his steps to the stairway, but was blocked by heavy fire rolling up the stairs and over his head. The Firefighter then headed back toward the rear bedrooms and broke the windows, hoping to find a ladder. As he peered through the enveloping smoke around him, he saw only two engine companies five stories below him, whose members were stretching lines up from Kingsbridge Terrace.

FF Veirun knew his only hope of escape for the two of them was to try to get to a front window. He shielded young Sachiel with his own body and again dashed through the blazing hallway to a front bedroom.

While the rescue in the interior unfolded, quick-thinking FFs Mike Tuohy, the chauffeur, and Paul Ruane, the outside vent Firefighter, placed a portable ladder to the upstairs bedroom. They knew that a ladder would be their comrade’s only way out. When FF Veirun reached the front window, the portable ladder was in place and he passed off his precious cargo to his outside team. Fire now was licking around the window FF Veirun was in and he quickly crawled out and down the ladder.

FF Veirun operated in such intense conditions that even though he wore his protective equipment, he suffered burns to his shoulder and the back of both arms. His bunker gear was burned so severely, the Safety Battalion condemned it. The plastic eye shields on his helmet melted.

Unfortunately, Sachiel Sanclemente ultimately succumbed to her injuries in spite of FF Veirun’s daring rescue. Today, FF John Veirun is honored for his heroic efforts with the Thomas F. Crimmins Medal.—CB