4 JULY 9, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Offff -duty paramedic, fifi refifi ghter
rescue two from burning
Woodhaven home
Off -duty FDNY Paramedic Daniel Marcano of EMS Station 39 rescued one civilian from a house fi re. Photos by Lloyd Mitchell
BY TODD MAISEL
EDITORIAL@QNS.COM
@QNS
An off -duty paramedic is being
hailed as a hero aft er he rescued
a woman and her cat from
a house fi re in Woodhaven last week.
Fire officials say Paramedic Daniel
Marcano, assigned to EMS Station
39, rescued a woman and a cat from
their smoke-filled home at 72-24 87th
Ave. around 4:15 p.m. on July 1.
Officials say Marcano, an eightyear
veteran, entered the smokefilled
first-floor apartment on his
hands and knees, felt around, and
found the woman on the floor near
several feet from the door and pulled
her out to safety. Her cat followed
closely behind. She was brought out
still conscious but suffering smoke
inhalation.
Firefighter Lt. John Norman of
Squad 270 found another victim in
the home and pulled him to safety as
firefighters extinguished the smoky
fire.
Both victims were taken to Jamaica
Hospital with smoke inhalation and
were last reported in stable condition,
fire officials say.
Marcano related the story in a
Twitter post by the FDNY:
“I was in my backyard and one of
my neighbors ran over and told me
that there was a fire close by. He knew
I was in the FDNY. I ran to the front
of the house and saw the smoke. As
I got closer, I realized that the house
that was on fire was occupied by my
neighbors and they were inside. I
kicked in the front door, and I got
low and made my way into the house,
about 7-10 feet. One of my neighbors
started to walk towards me. There was
a lot of smoke. I carried them out of
the house and across the street. At that
moment, they told me that their friend
was still inside the house. By that time,
FDNY units started to arrive on scene.
I identified myself and told them about
the possibility of another individual
in the house. It all happened so fast,
but it felt like second nature. I knew
anyone in my position would have
done the same thing.”
Deputy Chief James DiDomenico
said quick action saved people from
the fire.
“Our members made the conscious
decision to not remove the individual
from the room until the smoke had
lifted and the fire was knocked down.
This allowed the individual to get
the fresh air that they needed until
it was safe to proceed,” he said.
The fire was brought under control
within 40 minutes, officials
said. The cause of the fire was under
investigation but was not considered
suspicious.
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