O&R Duo Rescue Sleeping Man From Burning House

MONSEY, NY — Two O&R employees raced into a burning building Wednesday morning in Monsey and rescued an elderly man who was asleep. The heroism started when Ted Ryder and James Lynch, were driving down Old Nyack Turnpike and Ryder spotted a burning house.

They pulled over as did a third O&R employee, Ross Dailey, who was following. Ryder reported the fire as the three left their vehicles to offer help. A young woman approached Ryder and told him her grandfather was still in the burning house.

Ryder happens to be a 42-year member and former chief of the Nyack Fire Department.

He and Lynch entered the burning building. Dailey backed them up to brief the fire department when it arrived.

Ryder and Lynch called out as they made their way into the burning dwelling to sound the alarm. They quickly went room to room, pounding on doors to try to clear the building.

As they were searching, Ryder glanced into the empty kitchen. He noticed an out-of-place curtain covering a corner of the room. He pulled the curtain back and found an elderly man sound asleep. Ryder woke him, and Lynch led the man out of the smoke-filled building. Ryder continued the sweep, looking for more occupants. The O&R men found no one else in the building.

“These men are well trained and very experienced. They are seasoned and cool under pressure, accustomed to taking immediate action in emergency situations to get effective results," said a proud O&R Vice President Operations Francis W. Peverly. "These are the kind of people who work at O&R."

According to Rockland Fires, volunteer firefighters responded from Monsey with assistance from Sloatsburg, Hillburn and Spring Valley.