Jacob Pucci
Syracuse Media Group, N.Y.
UTICA, N.Y. — A Utica firefighter suffered a leg injury after a stairway in a burning home collapsed, causing him to fall from the second floor to the basement.
Deputy Chief Matt Ambrose was among the firefighters who responded to a fire at 1003 Smith Place around 6:54 a.m. this morning.
The Utica Fire Department said in a new release that when firefighters first arrived, they saw smoke coming from the first and second floors of the residence.
Neighbors told firefighters that two adults may be on the second floor and neither had been seen exiting the residence.
As firefighters searched for the residents, they battled heavy smoke, as well as fire that was beginning to spread throughout the exterior walls and into the attic.
Firefighters were opening walls and ceilings on the second floor to combat the fire when the stairway to the second floor collapsed. Ambrose was on the second floor supervising interior operations at the time. The collapse caused him to fall to the basement.
The fire department said Ambrose was able to walk out of the basement with help from fellow firefighters. He was taken to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for treatment of a leg injury and other minor injuries. He has since been released from the hospital.
The residents firefighters were searching for were later accounted for and were not home at the time of the fire.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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