Heroic Brooklyn Rescue A Testament To FDNY Training; Rookie Firefighters Say
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Two young children were rescued from their burning home in Brooklyn.
The heroes include two rookie firefighters with just a few weeks on the job.
Rachel Morales was woken up by cries at 2:30 in the morning on 64th Street in Dyker Heights.
"I thought that they were arguing, so I went outside to tell them to lower their voices," Morales told CBS2's Erin Logan.
As soon as she noticed what was really going on, she stepped in to help her neighbor.
"He was actually trying to call 911, but he doesn't speak English," she said, "He was trying to tell them their address, and he couldn't, so I was like 'okay, it's serious you know."
Morales said firefighters arrived quickly, and they were faced with quite a challenge -- a language barrier, people screaming 'there's a baby inside,' and black smoke coming out of a window.
Rookie firefighters Domenic DiBiase, and Christopher Rossi were called to the scene along with 20-year veteran Christopher Kane.
After knocking down the basement fire and removing the window bars, they made their way inside. That's where Rossi found an unconscious 2-year-old and a woman on the floor.
In the other bedroom DiBiase found a 6-year-old on the floor at the foot of the bed.
Firefighters got the victims out safely, but the infant and child were taken to the hospital.
Family friend, Leon Lim said the 2-year-old is doing much better than the 6-year-old.
"The face is all burned," Lim said.
Morales said it was an emotional morning,
"I mean, I was scared...This was my first time," she said.
The two rookie firefighters said what they were able to do speaks volumes about the training they received.
