One of the two firefighters who were hurt while battling a large Brooklyn blaze Monday remains in serious condition and faces a long recovery process, doctors said Thursday.
Robert Wiedmann, 38, has serious burns on more than 50 percent of his body, and his doctor said he will need multiple surgeries and multiple skin grafts over a lengthy period of time.
The firefighter, who has been with FDNY for 14 years, was awake and responsive as of Thursday.
The other firefighter injured in the fire, James Gersbeck, 52, was doing well despite some third-degree burns on parts of his body. The 25-year FDNY veteran was not expected to need surgery.
The firefighters, both of Rescue 2, were responding to a fire on the third floor of a Crown Heights brownstone when they were burned.
Fire union president Stephen Cassidy says Wiedmann was "literally on fire'' when he was rescued through a window. Gersbeck made it out by himself, despite his injuries.
Both were taken to the Weill Cornell burn center in Manhattan.
Local
Updates on Wiedmann's condition and information on a blood drive to help the firefighter was expected to be posted at http://www.fdnyrescue2.org.
The cause of the fire has not been determined.
