By Tom Yerace
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review
NEW KENSINGTON, Pa. — Four New Kensington firefighters are nursing first- and second-degree burns and smoke inhalation after getting painful reminders of how fickle and intense fires can be.
John Shirey and brothers Vince and Garrett Sekanick managed to escape the Saturday night fire at 425 Ridge Ave. with burns, according to Assistant Fire Chief Ed Saliba Jr., who also said a fourth firefighter, Todd Mentecki, who is a city councilman, suffered smoke inhalation. All were taken to Allegheny Valley Hospital, Harrison for treatment and later released.
“I was on the nozzle, and we (the Sekanicks) were up on the second floor at the top of the stairwell when the temperatures went from a bearable situation, a normal situation, to where my ears were burning and you know it’s time to get out,” Shirey, 34, said.
Saliba said Garrett Sekanick, 21, suffered second-degree burns to his legs, fingers and ears while his brother, Vince, 24, had second-degree burns to his legs and Shirey had first-degree burns to his back and left leg. They and Mentecki are all members of New Kensington Fire Co. No. 1.
The fire, which was called in around 9:20 p.m., and a second one in a vacant house at 300 McCargo St., which was discovered a short time later, are both under investigation by state police fire marshal Kevin Karwatski, Saliba said. He said he had not received any word about the cause Sunday.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, there was thick smoke but no flames visible.
“We went into the first floor, we stopped and listened,” Shirey said. “Normally you can hear it crackling. There was no sign of intense heat. It was as if the fire was invisible; we couldn’t see it at all.”
They ascended the stairs near the front door to continue their investigation on the second floor. That’s when the situation suddenly changed.
“Whenever I started feeling the burning, that is the first time I actually heard the fire, and it felt like it was behind us on the steps ,and I knew it was time to get out,” Shirey said.
He said Garrett Sekanick was with him, manning the hose in the hallway. Shirey said Vince Sekanick had gone into a bedroom to open some windows to get rid of some of the smoke and try to get the fire to expose itself as air entered the structure.
“He was in the room right next to us, and Garrett Sekanick was right behind me,” Shirey said. “When I felt the heat I said, ‘We’ve got to get out now,’ and we yelled for Vince.”
At the same time, he said they could hear the airhorns on the fire engines, a warning from their comrades outside -- who by then could see the flames -- that something was wrong and they had to get out.
He said they hurried down the steps, tumbling as they went.
Meanwhile, a second hose team had set up at the front door when the other firefighters saw the flames trying to move up the steps.
“Instead of going out the door it was coming up at us like a chimney effect,” Shirey said. “They were able to knock it down so it wouldn’t really hurt us.”
When the trio got outside, the hose was turned on them to cool them off.
As the situation unfolded inside, Mentecki said he scaled a ladder outside to a porch roof to knock out some windows and ventilate the house to help the firefighters inside. But, in his haste to aid his comrades, Mentecki did not put on his air mask and when he knocked out the window,s he was hit by a blast of smoke forced out by the pressure from the heat.
“I felt as if time was of the essence in doing that and if it helped get them out, it was worth it to me,” said Mentecki.
He said he stayed on the scene for about an hour until his coughing from the smoke got progressively worse and he began to feel nauseated. He was treated at the scene by an ambulance crew, who then took him to the hospital.
Saliba said the firefighters had all their turnout gear on but the burns to Shirey and the Sekanicks were a testament to the fire’s intensity.
“They had no exposed skin, but that is the severity of how hot it was,” he said.
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