Firefighter Dominic Ventolora, badly hurt battling fire on Staten Island, released from hospital
NEW YORK -- A firefighter badly hurt battling a house fire late last week on Staten Island was released from the hospital on Wednesday morning.
Fellow firefighters and first responders said it's amazing to see a firefighter who risked his life to save others recover and get to go home, and they made sure to show him how much his bravery is appreciated, CBS2's Natalie Duddridge reported.
Firefighter Dominic Ventolora was met with cheers as he was wheeled out of Staten Island University Hospital. He then stood to thank and hug his doctors, nurses and fellow firefighters for saving his life.
"Really happy to be here with everybody," Ventolora said. "I mean, the care was amazing here. The hospital is amazing. So great to see all my brothers and my sisters ... FDNY ... it has been overwhelming, the support from them."
READ MORE: FDNY firefighter expected to make full recovery from injuries
Ventolora, who has been with the FDNY for eight years, was fighting a house fire in the Bulls Head neighborhood on Friday night. Video shows smoke billowing in the sky.
The 35-year-old was coming up the stairs in the lead position carrying the hose when he lost control of it, knocking off his face mask and causing him to inhale superheated gases. His neck and face were seriously burned.
He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition and intubated.
"Speed is definitely the key, recognizing the seriousness of this injury. When you have an inhalation injury, you're fighting for your life. You don't have oxygen, so getting him here was the key," said Dr. Michael Cooper, director of the Staten Island University Hospital Regional Burn Center.
Fire officials said his team did everything right getting Ventolora to safety and treating him quickly.
"Firefighting is an extremely dangerous profession. We are trained at very high level. During the fire we were able to move Dominic very quickly," Staten Island Bureau Commander Kevin Woods said.
"A fire is organized chaos. You can never predict the outcome 100 percent," said Andrew Ansbro, president of the New York Firefighters Association. "From time to time we have issues like this. Sometimes we have a tragedy. Thank God we're not at a funeral home today."
Fire marshals determined the fire that injured Ventolora was accidental, caused by a power strip.
One resident in the home was also treated for a minor injury, but is OK, and that's what's most important to Ventolora, that everyone got out.
"We love what we do. We do it well. They're very good at their job and if they weren't it could have been really different," Ventolora said.
Ventolora is not out of the woods yet. He will continue to receive respiratory care.
After Wednesday's excitement, he said the first thing he wants to do when he gets home is sleep.
