Update: Lt. William Kearns recently visited the two young children rescued from this fire and said they are both progressing nicely and should make a full recovery. The father’s injuries, however, were much more serious, although he is expected to survive.

A trio of hero firemen saved three members of one family after an early morning fire broke out in the Fordham Manor neighborhood.

Officials say the fire began just after 3 a.m., on Saturday, June 9, inside a 6th-floor apartment at 50 E. 191st St., across the street from St. James Park.

“We started our search knowing that there were two children trapped in the apartment,” said Lt. William Kearns of Ladder 56, who grew up in this same neighborhood and whose firehouse is located nearby on Webster Avenue.

Firefighter Chris O’Brien, also of Ladder 56, ducked under the fire coming from the kitchen and discovered the 28-year-old father, identified as Jose Figueroa, lying unconscious in the hall of the apartment.

The intense heat melted the eye-shield on the helmet of firefighter Ronnie Littlejohn, who sprayed the blaze with a fire extinguisher as O’Brien made the rescue.

Meanwhile, Kearns and an unidentified member of Rescue Company Three removed Figueroa’s two children, a 3-year-old and a 2-year-old, who were “unconscious in their beds.”

“It was a great effort by all parties involved,” Kearns said.

A firefighter with more than three decades of experience, Kearns said, “What was really impressive was the noise of the bricks popping. It was very unusual. I haven’t heard that happening before, but that was the intensity of the fire coming out the window, causing the moisture inside the bricks to expand, steam and pop.”

Kearns, who grew up playing in St. James Park and lived around the corner from the Webster Avenue firehouse that is now his second home, said the crew’s saves were satisfying, but warned that those rescued aren’t completely out of danger.

“It’s a terrific feeling and we just hope that they continue to prevail,” Kearns said. “We also pray for the recovery of the father.”
Figueroa, who ran back into the home for his children when he was overcome by smoke, remains in critical condition. He is also being treated for severe burns.

A 3-year-old girl and a 2-year-old girl are also critical, but stable at Jacobi Hospital, as they, too, are being treated for smoke inhalation.

Figueroa’s wife, Amanda Khan, and three-month-old baby boy, David Figueroa, were also treated for minor smoke inhalation.

Three firefighters also suffered minor injuries.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.

Editor’s note: A version of this story appears in the June 14-27 print edition of the Norwood News.