Only on CBS2: Long Island couple reunited with firefighters who saved their lives
COMMACK, N.Y. -- A Long Island couple who was rescued from a fire in April just met their heroes for the first time since that fateful night.
As CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis reports, it all started with a home security camera.
Flame and smoke could be seen shooting out of an East Northport home from a Ring camera across the street. The camera's owner got an alert and noticed her neighbor's house on fire. She called 911 as her husband ran across the street to try to wake them up.
Harold and Evelyn Cohen were trapped in separate rooms.
"All you see is black, and as soon as you opened the door, it felt like I put my head in an oven, that's how hot it was," Harold Cohen said.
"I couldn't see anything in the room at all," Evelyn Cohen said.
READ MORE: Ring camera video alerts Suffolk County homeowners of neighboring house fire
Christopher Ciaccio was one of the first firefighters on scene and rushed in.
"The kitchen, living room, the hallway was all on fire. I crawled through that ... When I made it into the bedroom, I saw that she was in the window, was having a really difficult time getting out," he said.
"I was standing by the window and I couldn't get up, and all the sudden, I got lifted up and I didn't know how it happened," Evelyn Cohen said.
She landed in the arms of police officers on the other side of the window, later learning it was Ciaccio that got her out.
Firefighters also rescued her husband.
"It was so intense, we wouldn't have probably made it," Evelyn Cohen said.
Now that she's out of the hospital, she wanted to surprise the man who saved her life.
"I want to convey my heartfelt thank you, from the bottom of my heart and depths of my soul," she told Ciaccio.
It's not often first responders get to meet the people they help.
"Yeah, I'm a little short for words, but it's awesome," Ciaccio said.
But it was a message she had to deliver her message to the Commack Fire Department in person.
"You're all heroes. I don't know how you do it. That's what makes you all so special," she said.
The Cohens say next, they want to meet the police officers involved so they can thank all their heroes.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The couple is living in a hotel until their home is habitable again.