News: LI Firefighter Responds to Brother’s Fire
(Long Island, N.Y.) The brother of a Long Island firefighter was killed Sunday when a fire tore through a Selden home. The twenty-two-year-old firefighter, who was a member of the Selden fire department, had responded to the call on that fateful morning. Despite the tragic outcome, the young hero is determined to continue fighting fires while honoring his brother’s memory.
The twenty-two-year-old woke with a bad feeling after receiving a text message with the address of the fire. The scene of the emergency was a place he recognized as the home of a mutual friend, a location that his twenty-six-year-old brother often visited. The brothers were roommates; the young firefighter immediately went to his room to see if he had made it home safely.
With his brother nowhere in sight, he rushed to the firehouse, hopped in his truck, and sped to the scene. By the time he arrived, the fire had reached the top-floor windows. As he grabbed his gear and entered the home, he noticed that the second floor had been completely engulfed in the flames.
Along with a team of fellow firefighters, the young hero attempted to put out the fire and drown what was left of the upstairs quarters. Outside the home, emergency responders treated a woman and three men for minor injuries. Reports stated that witnesses claimed the deceased had alerted a woman, who was sleeping upstairs, of the fire.
After seeing an EMT treat an unconscious man for severe burns, the firefighter was notified that the patient was his brother. He turned to his chief to confirm the news, sealing the worst possible fate for his older sibling. The twenty-six-year-old was later pronounced dead at Stony Brook University Medical Center.
The chief announced that the young firefighter did a great job staying focused on his work amidst the tragic circumstance. A fellow volunteer, who lived closer to the scene of the fire, entered the home through the window with a stepladder. He then pulled the unconscious man from the flames while his younger brother fought the blaze.
The home, which has since been condemned, is being investigated by the Suffolk County Police Arson Squad and the Suffolk County Homicide Squad. Some sources indicated that the fire started in the bedroom from smoking materials that were ignited. Reports also stated that the deceased was seen heroically reentering the home after he had left and alerted a sleeping woman of the fire.
