Bronx Firefighters Save Two from Fire

Members of Engine 45/Ladder 58 watch as Capt. Joseph Principio tells the media how the company saved a 15-year-old and her grandmother from a fire in the Bronx. Firefighters Scott Mooney (left of the Captain) and Duane Davis (right of the Captain) participated in the rescue.

Firefighters from Engine 45/Ladder 58 rescued a 15-year-old girl and her grandmother from an early morning fire in the Bronx on Oct. 30.

“This job was all about teamwork,” Capt. Joseph Principio from Ladder 58 said.

Just before 6 a.m. members were called to the scene of a fire on East 174th Street in the Bronx.

Upon arrival, members from Ladder 58 went to the 10th floor, where the fire was located, to search for victims.

A chief outside radioed the company and said there was a girl leaning out a bedroom window in the apartment, so members forced open the fire apartment’s front door to search for victims. They said there was black smoke down to the floor and high heat.

They began their search and Capt. Principio said Firefighters Scott Mooney and Duane Davis went into the bedroom on the left, while the Captain and Lt. Paul McKie from Engine 45 went to stand watch at the bedroom on the right, where the fire was located.

Ladder 58

“We were worried the fire was going to just take off,” Capt. Principio said.

Firefighters Mooney and Davis located the 15-year-old girl at the window and stayed with her as the members of Engine 45 extinguished the fire.

Members also heard that the girl’s grandmother lived in the apartment, so they continued their search. Firefighters found her outside the apartment, in the building’s shared hallway, so they took her into another apartment until it was safe to leave.

The fire was brought under control at 6:34 a.m.

Capt. Principio stressed that smoke detectors were present in the apartment, but it had no batteries. He urged all New Yorkers to change the batteries in their smoke alarms when they change their clocks for Daylight Saving Time.

“I’m just glad everything worked out today,” said Firefighter Mooney.

Firefighter Davis agreed, “This makes you feel good, it’s what we’re here for, it’s our job.”