What to Know
- An 81-year-old Upper East Side man says he's alive because an "angel" firefighter staged a dramatic rescue in "a miracle on 93rd Street"
- The man was on the top floor of a burning building on Thursday when the firefighter grabbed him and lowered him to the ground by rope
- Flames were so intense that they burned through the rope, which fell apart just as the two men hit the ground
An 81-year-old man says he’s alive today because an “angel” firefighter scaled down a wall of flames to rescue him from a raging inferno on the Upper East Side.
James Duffy was on the top floor of a five-story apartment building on 93rd Street when a six-alarm fire quickly burned out of control early Thursday morning. The fire sent flames shooting 20 feet in the air and had residents fleeing into the street.
Duffy, who suffers from asthma, said he thought he was going to die in his fifth floor apartment — but Rescue 1 firefighter Jim Lee was already jumping into action above him.
“It’s a miracle and he’s an angel,” Duffy said. “A miracle on 93rd Street.”
Lee was on the roof of the burning building when he latched on a lifesaving rope and harness and went over the edge to rescue Duffy, who was hanging out of his window trying to escape the roaring flames and thick, black smoke.
“You couldn’t see anything over the edge, so much smoke and flames coming out,” Lee said.
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Video shows Lee holding Duffy as he scales down the side of the building, smoke and embers whooshing around them in the early morning darkness.
But the danger wasn’t over yet. Flames from the windows had been eating through the rope and it eventually gave way.
Luckily, the rope burned through at the moment the two of them hit the ground and they narrowly avoided a potentially deadly fall.
“I just told him to stay calm and when we got down I said, ‘I hope you enjoyed the ride,’” Lee said.
Duffy said Lee undoubtedly saved his life and that seconds made all the difference.
“I wouldn’t be here,” Duffy said. “I would have been gone. The smoke was so thick and black and hot.”
Lee said he would do the rescue all over again in a heartbeat.
“I feel good we saved a life,” he said.
One man was killed and 15 other people, including 11 firefighters, were injured in the fire. The blaze was eventually brought under control shortly before 8 a.m., nearly six hours after it started. The cause is under investigation.
