PATERSON — Two of the city’s bravest lived up to their nickname Sunday morning when they climbed a fire escape ladder to the third floor of a building to rescue a man and his daughter trapped by flames.
The fire broke out shortly after 9 a.m. on the second floor of a Fair Street apartment building, said Paterson Fire Chief Brian McDermott. He said the fire spread and trapped the man and his toddler daughter on the third floor. The man led his daughter to the fire escape at the rear of the building, where they were saved, McDermott said.
“It was a nice grab,” McDermott said of the rescue.
Firefighters Robert Santore and Brian Hirschmanner said they went around behind the building and spotted them on the fire escape exit.
They observed the man holding up his little girl to keep her out of the smoke, McDermott said. They were afraid the man might drop her.
“Rob ran up the fire escape to grab her,” Hirschmanner said.
After the two rescued the girl, they went back for her father.
The rescues were the first for the firefighters.
“Sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time,” Santore said.
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The fire in the multifamily building reached three alarms, the chief said. The building is not habitable, leaving eight families with a total of 18 people homeless. They have been relocated by the Red Cross.
McDermott said the father and daughter and two other residents were hospitalized, one of them for a seizure and another with chest pains. One firefighter suffered minor injuries during the fire but remained at the scene.
McDermott said both of the rescuing firefighters have suffered burn injuries in the past. Hirschmanner, an eight-year veteran of the department, was significantly burned in a 2016 fire, requiring a week at the St. Barnabas Burn Center in Livingston, the chief said.
Santore, who has 10 years with the department, suffered burns in November when he attempted to rescue a woman who had gone back into her burning home to rescue her dog.
Firefighters also rescued a cat and a dog from the Fair Street fire. The animals’ owners told fire officials that because they no longer have a home, they could not care for their animals.
The cat, Mr. Woo, was spending the afternoon at the firehouse while firefighters try to find him a new home. They were not sure where the dog was taken.
Matt Fagan is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: fagan@northjersey.com
Twitter: @fagan_nj
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