The New York City Fire Department (FDNY) rescued three people Friday who were seen hanging from the window of a burning building, video footage showed.
FDNY responded around 2:14 p.m. to a call reporting a possible fire at St. Nicholas Place in Manhattan, the department confirmed in a statement online. Upon arrival to the scene, authorities stated they found people on the “fire escape” of the building as well as some “hanging out of the windows on the fifth floor,” according to the statement.
To rescue the victims hanging out of the window, firefighters used a “lifesaving rope” which allowed them to scale the side of the building to grab each victim and lower them to the ground. The maneuver was successfully performed by three firefighters, who each saved three different people, FDNY confirmed.
“We have usually one of these a year or two, this was three at one fire,” FDNY Chief of Department John Hodgens stated. “While that was going on, we had our engine company moving up to the third floor. We had heavy fire blowing out into the hallway from the fire apartment. The fire that was blowing out was blocking off the exit pathway of the occupants trying to escape down the stairs. As the engine company moved in to extinguish that fire, our ladder company members went to the upper floors where they found three victims unconscious.”
Three firefighters using the lifesaving rope were lowered to the 5th floor where victims were trapped, grabbed them, & lowered them to the ground. There were 18 total patients. 12 transports, 4 of them in critical condition. 1 person died at the hospital. Fire under investigation pic.twitter.com/867ow7jth9
— FDNY (@FDNY) February 23, 2024
Video footage posted to X (formerly Twitter) showed another angle of the incident where the victims could be seen hanging on for their lives shortly before firefighters rescued them. The camera zooms out, showing the height of the building, as two people could be seen attempting to help someone dangling from the window ledge.
JUST IN: Heroic firefighter rescues 3 people from a burning building in New York City dangling from a single rope.
Hero 🔥🔥
The incident happened at a 6-story apartment building in Harlem, forcing residents to escape through the windows.
Unfortunately, not everyone made… pic.twitter.com/6U6o5OJH9E
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 24, 2024
Emergency medical services (EMS) on scene treated 18 patients while 12 were transported to local hospitals, according to the statement. Five of the 12 patients were in critical condition but one victim had succumbed to their injuries following their arrival to the hospital, EMS Chief Michael Fields said, according to the statement. (RELATED: Officials Cancel La Liga Soccer Games After Massive Fire Kills Several People)
“Paramedics did a phenomenal job once fire operations brought the patients out to extend life and get them to area hospitals so they can get continued care,” Fields stated.
Authorities noted the cause of the fire is currently unknown and is being investigated.