A massive fire tore through two Upper East Side buildings early Thursday, killing one and injuring 16 others – including a trapped 81-year-old man who was saved in a dramatic “last ditch” bid by a hero firefighter lowered down from the roof by a rope.
A firefighter saved an elderly man from a deadly Upper East Side fire Thursday – just before the flames started burning through the rope he was tied to from the roof.
“I looked back up, and the windows were just fully engulfed in fire and the rope that we came down on was on fire,” said 13-year veteran firefighter Jim Lee, 43, of Rescue 1, who pulled off the “last resort” rescue of the 81-year-old man, James Duffy.
Moments earlier, Duffy had been screaming for help out of the top floor rear window of 324 E. 93rd Street, which doesn’t have any rear fire escapes.
“The smoke was so thick, black and heavy, I didn’t think I’d make it. If he didn’t show up at that time I would have [died],” Duffy, who is asthmatic, told The Post from his hospital bed.
The six-alarm inferno broke out at 324 E. 93rd St. near First Avenue around 3:25 a.m. and quickly engulfed and destroyed the century-old, five-story building in the Yorkville section of the neighborhood, according to the FDNY.
The blaze also spread next door to 326 and 322 E. 93rd St., heavily damaging the second and third floors.
Dozens of residents were evacuated as more than 250 firefighters battled the powerful flames.
A man in his 40s, whose identity was not immediately released, was found dead on the third floor of 324 E. 93rd St., officials said.
While battling the blaze, Lee said he saw that Duffy, who became trapped by the window, “was in trouble, and we needed to get him.’’
Lee, with the help of several members on the roof, brought Duffy to safety within 2 minutes following the rare “roof-rope” rescue – where a firefighter is lowered down the side of the building to the trapped person using a 150-foot,braided nylon, non-flame resistant “life-saving” rope.
When Lee finally reached the man through the thick smoke, “he was sort of crouched over. He had his hood up trying to protect his head and I sort of reached in, and said, ‘Let’s go.’ Didn’t really think too much. Grabbed him. Held on tight.”
Duffy said as the two rappelled down the side of the burning building Lee “was saying, ‘Relax, take it easy, I’m here’…I made a point not to get upset and scared, to keep it cool as they say, or he wouldn’t be able to get us down.”
“I was just hoping I get down safely. I had faith in the fireman, we were tied together in his arms. I knew he knew his job,” said Duffy, who was rushed to New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center and listed in critical condition, but stable condition.
Duffy, a native New Yorker and former disc jockey, suffered burns on his arms, legs and back.
Before the rescue Duffy’s only option was to “jump or worse – succumb to his injuries,” said Lee.
Captain Rex Morris of Rescue 1 called the high-risk rescue technique “the least desirable and the most dangerous, but that’s why we train on it.”
Four other residents suffered minor injuries in the blaze and 11 firefighters also sustained minor injuries, officials said.
Flames shot out the roof at one point — sending embers onto nearby buildings as some residents fled into the streets in their pajamas.
“At about 3:30 my neighbor called me and said that there was a fire next to my building,” said Rakesh Recharla, 32, a resident of 320 E. 93rd Street, still wearing his pajama pants. “There were firefighters and they broke the windows of the building that was on fire, and as soon as they did that huge flames came out of the entire front of the building.”
Recharla added, “[The flames] were huge. The whole building was on fire. It was like something exploded. It was not some small fire. The flames were bright orange, several feet high. No one could even go nearby. It was so hot. It was very scary.”
Two residents of 324 E. 93rd Street lost all their possessions in blaze except their two adorable pooches who were rescued from the flames.
“Man, I lost everything. I don’t even have a MetroCard,” said a man as he and his black and white dog were wrapped up in a Red Cross blanket.
Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the inferno, which was brought under control nearly five hours later, and FDNY spokesman Jim Long said, “There’s nothing at this time to tell us it’s suspicious.”
Eighteen families, including 21 adults and 2 children were displaced from the inferno, a Red Cross spokesperson said.
The inferno shut down E. 93rd Street between First and Second avenues, and First Avenue between 91st and 94th streets.