An 8-year-old girl and a 5-month-old boy were alive Sunday thanks to two hero firefighters — one on his first fire ever — who pulled the tots from a burning Park Slope apartment in the early hours of the morning, authorities said.
The youngsters were sleeping in separate bedrooms in a fifth-floor apartment in the Wyckoff Gardens houses on 3rd Ave. at 2:15 a.m. when a fire broke out in one of the two rooms, Fire department officials said.
Two other residents — a 63-year-old woman identified by neighbors as the kids’ grandmother and a 14-year-old boy said to be their brother — were able to escape the blaze with another 14-month-old infant. All three suffered minor injuries.
“The grandmother banged on my door. She was crying in the hall way,” said Chyna Johnson, 41, who lives on the first floor. “She was running around screaming. She was worried about the kids. She said they were still in there.”
Another witness attempted to rescue the kids, only to find himself choked out by the heavy smoke.
“The entire hallway was engulfed in smoke,” said a man who was working in area when the fire broke out who declined to give his name. “I tried to get into the apartment but there was so much smoke, I couldn’t see my hand in front of me. I couldn’t breathe.”
Sixty-five firefighters arrived at the blaze. Smoke eater Jordan Sullivan, of Ladder 105, who was responding to his first fire as a New York City firefighter, found the infant boy in one of the bedrooms as he crawled through the pitch-black apartment, Deputy Fire Department Chief Vinny Mandala said at the scene. Moments later, Firefighter Bryan Kelly, of Squad 1, located the 8-year-old girl huddled in one of the bedrooms, Mandala said.
The firefighters held the tiny babes, who both suffered smoke inhalation, in their arms as they rushed them to an ambulance.
Mandala commended the men for their valor.
“The guys did a great job,” Mandala said at the scene.
One of the young victims was taken to Cornell Hospital, the other to Methodist Hospital. Both were in stable condition, authorities said.
The Fire Marshall was investigating what sparked the blaze.
