Jan. 17—STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A firefighter who ran into a burning, smoke-filled home grabbed a baby from a bunk bed and passed the child through a basement window to a fellow firefighter in a dramatic response in Graniteville Friday afternoon, officials said.
The child was listed in critical condition at Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, according to the FDNY.
Firefighters received multiple reports of individuals trapped in a blaze at 267 Ada Drive, a semi-attached home near Farragut Avenue, at approximately 3:45 p.m., FDNY Deputy Chief John Russell told reporters at the scene.
“There was a heavy smoke condition that they were met with,” Russell shared.
Upon arrival, a responding firefighter was met by a civilian who informed him that a baby still remained in the basement.
The first responder barreled into the basement, retrieved the child from the bottom bunk of a bed located in the rear of the home and dramatically handed off the baby through a window.
“He saw that there was a window right there, and in an attempt to get the baby into the cleanest air possible as quickly as possible instead of going back through the apartment that he had just come through, he began to pass the baby just out into the fresh air,” Russell explained.
The child was met by another firefighter conducting operations in the back of the home who extracted the baby and brought it directly to EMS. EMS treated the child at the scene before transporting the baby to the hospital.
Two adults and two other children who self-evacuated were also taken to the hospital, according to the FDNY.
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The two-alarm blaze was brought under control in just under 40 minutes and the cause of the fire remains under investigation, according to the FDNY.
A resident who lives across the street described seeing smoke coming from the structure.
“I heard someone scream about a baby,” the neighbor said.
The resident says he saw first responders rushing the baby to the ambulance and a man evacuating the building.
During the height of the response, FDNY engines lined Ada Drive.
This is a developing story and additional information will be posted as it becomes available.
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