NEW YORK — A firefighter didn’t let falling through a 10-foot elevator shaft stop him from battling a three-alarm fire Monday morning.
New York Post reported that thick smoke engulfed an abandoned warehouse at 12:45 a.m., making it difficult for firefighters to fight the blaze. Firefighter Justin Reilly was in the building when he fell down a freight shaft.
"There was a lot of smoke, heavy smoke, and he couldn’t see it and fell in," Lt. Dan DiMartino said. "There was zero visibility moving along and that’s not something you would expect."
Lt. DiMartino and four firefighters worked their way to the basement to help hoist Reilly back to the ground floor after he’d been missing for 15 minutes.
"There was a ton of rubble at the bottom of the shaft,” Lt. DiMartino said. “He was able to get his bearings, and he stood up and called his own mayday."
EMTs evaluated Reilly, who insisted on returning to fight the fire after he was medically cleared, according to the report.
He joined about 140 other firefighters who spent hours trying to contain the flames.
The fire was extinguished at 3:15 a.m. and the cause is still under investigation.
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