Firefighter Recalls Heroic Rescue in Upper East Side Blaze that Killed 1, Injured 13

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — One died and 13 were injured Thursday after a six-alarm fire tore through a five-story building in the Yorkville section of the Upper East Side. But the loss of life could have been worse if it wasn't for a daring roof-rope rescue performed by firefighters, a method often deemed a "last resort."

Firefighter James Lee Jr. was lowered on a rope from the roof of the burning building to grab a man spotted in a third-floor window in what is known by the FDNY as a roof-rope rescue. FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said that these types of rescues are uncommon because they put firefighters into a precarious situation.

Lee recalled the daring rescue Thursday afternoon in a post to the FDNY's Facebook page:

"The man was hunkered down at his apartment window on the third floor and he had fire coming over his head. It was hard for me to see with the amount of heat and smoke coming out, and Firefighter Joe Moore, Ladder 13, guided me as Firefighter Andrew Hawkins from Ladder 43, and Firefighters Walter Gilroy and Peter McMahon from Ladder 26, lowered me down and got me right to the window. He put his knee on the window sill and I grabbed him, held on to him tight, and the guys up top lowered us to the ground. When we looked up, the fire was coming out of all the windows in his apartment. Another two minutes and he probably wouldn’t be with us. He said he was glad to be on the ground.”

Firefighter Francis Rush, of Rescue 1, had originally spotted the 81-year-old man who suffered serious injuries, FDNY officials said.

"He had two choices … to jump or to burn, neither of which would have been survivable," Nigro said, adding: "I can’t say enough about the danger involved in that type of rescue."

The fire broke out on the roof of the six-story row house at 324 E. 93rd St. around 3:30 a.m. Thursday morning. By 5 a.m. Thursday morning, the massive fire at 324 E. 93rd St. had overtaken the entire apartment building and run through six alarms.

More than four hours after the fire broke out, around 7:45 a.m., the fire was finally declared "under control" by the FDNY.

Pictured: Firefighter James Lee Jr. courtesy of FDNY