See It: Firefighters save man from 4th-floor window of burning apartment in Brooklyn
NEW YORK -- Firefighters rescued a man from intense flames Tuesday morning in Brooklyn.
The fire broke out just after 6 a.m. on 16th Street near Prospect Park.
Firefighters could be heard trying to calm a man down as he perched precariously on a fourth-floor windowsill, trying to escape from a raging inferno jetting out of his Brooklyn apartment.
"First, I heard the screaming. Then I smelled the smoke. Then I heard all the fireman going up there," neighbor Mario Barrucco said.
With no access to his fire escape, neighbors say the man climbed out of a window, then shimmied from ledge to ledge trying to find a way down.
The smoke was so suffocating, neighbors feared he might jump.
"He had no way out of the building. The fire had cut his path off from the street," FDNY Assistant Chief John Sarrocco said.
Firefighters pulled up to 16th Street and immediately set up for a roof rope rescue, a maneuver rarely performed, but one that FDNY firefighters like Patrick Gale train for daily.
"I tied myself off. He lowered me. I showed the victim we were coming to get him, he was going to be all right," Gale said. "He was happy. He was thankful. He was a little panicked at the beginning, but once we got him we were good to go."
But neighbors cleaning up the smoke and water damage had a lot less to be thankful for. They say the victim is a known drug addict and nuisance in the neighborhood, often causing disturbances.
"Police have come here many times to take him out. Every time they take him he is out temporarily and comes back," Barrucco said.
Firefighters are still investigating the cause of the fire, but believe it started in the kitchen. They say the victim, a man in his 20s, is being treated for cuts, but is expected to be okay.
