Bellmore First Responder to be Honored

John Curley, a New York City Firefighter and volunteer at the Bellmore Fire Department will be honored by the Firemen's Association of the State of New York (FASNY) on Friday for rescuing a woman from her home, which was engulfed in flames, according to an article in Newsday. 

On Nov. 12, 2012, Curley and his son, John Jr., were heading to Connecticut to pick up boilers to help Bellmore residents who needed them as a result of the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

After receiving a text alert at 7:39 a.m. from the Bellmore Fire Department that there was a two-story house fire on Shore Road, Curley and his son put the trip on hold and headed straight for the location of the blaze, arriving before anyone else.

“We got to the scene, and people were screaming. It was crazy,” Curley told Patch. “I looked at the house, and there was a makeshift ladder set-up on the side of it. Someone had put a ladder on top of a filing cabinet. I saw people huddled together across the street, and I asked if everyone was out, but they said their 93 year-old mother was still in there on the second floor.”  

Curley climbed up the ladder, broke the window of the woman's room with his bare hands, went into the burning home and rescued the woman. 

Curley went to the hospital and was treated for a deep laceration to his left cheek, minor lacerations to his lower back and scalp, as well as burns to his fingertips, scalp and forearm. 

The woman was treated at the same hospital and recovered. 

Robert McConville, vice president of FASNY, told Newsday that those who will be honored on Friday are heroes.

"These heroic deeds are due to their courage, intense training and constant responding to fire and medical emergencies."
Chris Boyle contributed to this report.