By Rummana Hussain, Ariel Cheung and Kara Spak
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — As the fire raged above him, a badly burned Tom Ruane fell into his firefighter comrade’s arms and, together, the two men made it down the dark, narrow stairway to safety.
Then the veteran fire captain looked back up the stairwell and screamed.
“My guy is still up there. My guy is still up there,” Ruane, 52, yelled, ignoring the first- and second-degree burns on his ears and neck.
And with that, another firefighter, Larry McCormick, rescued his colleague, Gerald Carter, 31.
Ruane and Carter were “out of the woods” but face a long recovery from the facial and respiratory burns they suffered, battling the blaze at the West Englewood home Thursday night, Chicago Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff said Friday.
Two others, including the firefighter who assisted Ruane down the stairs, were less severely hurt.
“What you see in Hollywood ain’t what we do,” Deputy District Chief Bob McKee said, recounting the men’s harrowing ordeal after flames in the basement of the wood-frame house traveled up the walls.
Ruane was described as a mentor and “go to guy” by fellow firefighters with Engine 54 at 71st and Parnell.
Battalion Chief Sean Burke, a 32-year veteran, said, “As soon as I heard that Tommy was involved, I knew they were in the thick of things.”
Carter has only been on the job 21/2 years but is “conscientious,” “aggressive” and eager to learn, Lt. John Leonard said.
Ruane and Carter were on the second floor of the house, in the 7000 block of South Justine, when the heavy fire “lit up” and knocked their masks off, officials said.
Carter remained upstairs when firefighter Kevin Abdullah assisted Ruane down, McKee said. Carter might not have made it if he hadn’t been wearing a personal alert safety system or PASS, fellow firefighters said.
“I got hurt in a fire once and the only reason they found me was because my alarm went off,” said 24-year-old firefighter Antonio Artis Jr.
PASS, which sounds an alarm after a firefighter is motionless for 30 seconds, goes off every few seconds and gets progressively louder.
Ruane and Carter have since been stabilized and are recuperating at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
Both suffered first- and second-degree burns. Carter, who was left with a severe left hand burn and facial burns, also suffered partial third-degree burns.
“Burns take a long time to heal,” Hoff said. “There’s a long road ahead - it’s going to be up to the doctors to see how long they keep them here.”
Despite the long road of recovery ahead for Ruane and Carter, they are lucky to be alive, officials said.
“When you’re in an environment like that, it doesn’t take long for your body to succumb to the heat,” Hoff said
Firefighter Sean Finn, 44, was burned on his neck and Abdullah, 52, suffered heat exhaustion.
“When you don’t know, then you start thinking a lot of things,” Elaine Abdullah said describing the agonizing hours before her son called to tell her he was OK.
“He went to get a check up [Friday morning],” she said. “I asked him ‘Are your lungs clear?’ and he said ‘I’m OK, mom.’”
A firefighter since 1989, Abdullah “loves what he does,” his mother said.
“Saving lives is his life,” she said. “If something happens and somebody falls in the lake, he goes and he dives, and he gets them. I’ve heard the stories since 1989.”
“I know he loves what he does,” she said. “He’s not a firefighter because he needs the money. He loves the Fire Department.”
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