By Maura Grunlund
Staten Island Advance
NEW YORK — Six firefighters and one civilian were hurt after flames engulfed a home in West Brighton on Thursday, according to an FDNY official.
Two of the firefighters suffered minor burns, according to Deputy Chief John Russell of the 8th Division.
The three-alarm blaze, which erupted just after 10:30 a.m. at a home at 108 Taylor St., tore through the residential building and triggered a “mayday” call when one firefighter was hurt inside, Russell said.
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“There was fire coming out the front door, out the front of the building and out the right-hand side of the building upon arrival,” Russell said.
The response went to a second alarm at 10:44 a.m. and a third-alarm at 11:14 a.m., indicating more FDNY personnel were summoned to fight the fire.
Crews stretched four hose lines immediately, with two more deployed outside before utilizing a tower ladder. A gas meter on the right side of the home ignited, feeding flames and complicating the response, Russell said.
The mayday was declared to expedite an injured firefighter’s evacuation.
“It’s almost like a salmon swimming upstream,” Russell said. “You have all these members moving in to fight the fire and now you have one member on the way out. By giving the mayday, it kind of puts everybody on alert to make some room and allow that member to get out.”
Five of the injured firefighters were transported to area hospitals.
A civilian was also taken to a hospital, but the chief was not immediately able to provide information about the patient.
None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.
No residents were found inside the home, the chief said.
The fire was placed under control at 1:05 p.m. after crews battled flames in the attic — the most difficult area to reach, Russell said.
Fire marshals will determine how the blaze started.
A dramatic scene
In a dramatic scene, neighbors from residences behind Taylor Street were seen using garden hoses to spray both the burning home and nearby trees in an effort to prevent the fire from spreading.
At the height of the response, bright orange flames shot out of the upper floors of the structure and engulfed its roof.
The home sustained significant burn damage, particularly to its upper floors and sides. Shingles could be seen flying off the structure as firefighters hosed it down.
One home next door suffered heat damage.
The massive emergency response included multiple fire trucks parked along nearby Richmond Terrace , DeGroot Place and Trinity Place .
Neighbor accounts
The dramatic response startled area residents, who saw the smoke plumes and then FDNY members descend on the scene.
One neighbor, Ed, who asked his last name be withheld from publication, said he was in his home when the blaze broke out.
“I saw a lot of smoke up in the sky from my window,” he recalled. “I said, ‘What the heck is going on here?’”
He was hoping nobody was hurt in the ordeal.
“It’s the most drastic fire that I think I have ever seen,” he said. “There were flames all over. I’ve never seen nothing like it before.”
Another neighbor, Jeffrey, said he was at a nearby store when he saw smoke and came to survey the situation.
“The next thing I know [the fire] was two houses from where I live,” he said.
He too was hoping that no one was hurt and said the homeowners were in his thoughts.
“When your house goes up in smoke like that, it’s sad,” Jeffrey said.
When do you pull the mayday trigger? Share the benchmarks, cues or red-flag conditions your crew uses and any lessons learned.
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