Body Cam Footage Of Early Morning Rescue Of Family From Bedford House Fire
By: A potential tragedy was avoided early this morning thanks to the quick actions of police and firefighters who arrived on the scene of a suffocating house fire.
Early Friday morning, shortly before 3 a.m., the Westchester County Emergency Communications Center received a 911 call from the resident of a Park Ave. home in Bedford Hills, reporting her house was on fire and that she and her two children were trapped in the smoke and unable to escape.
Once Bedford patrol units quickly arrived on the scene, they found a 35-year-old woman in distress hanging out of a small bathroom window. The woman told officers that her two children were still trapped inside the home.
Bedford Hills FD 1st Asst. Chief Patierno, along with Bedford Police Officers Jordan Baschnagel, Ronald Sauber, and Joseph Sagliano, forced a door off the rear porch where they faced heavy smoke. Despite limited visibility, they followed the sounds of a 10-year-old child crying out from just inside the doorway in the kitchen and were able to pull him out of the smoke-filled house.
In order to locate the second child, officers began breaking windows and removing air conditioner units.
Once again, despite not being able to see through thick smoke, they hear a faint cry coming from an elevated window. Officers climbed a small ledge and were able to access the window and remove the terrified 9-year-old boy.
The woman and two children were taken to Westchester County Medical Center by the Katonah-Bedford Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps, where they were treated for smoke inhalation.
The Bedford Hills Fire Department maintained the scene and quickly put out the fire.
"I am grateful to the first responders who rescued a mother and two children from a house fire in Bedford Hills last night," Bedford Town Supervisor Ellen Calves said in her weekly newsletter today. "Disaster was averted by the bravery of those on scene, especially the Bedford PD officers who entered the smoke filled building to save a trapped child. Thanks also to the volunteer agencies that aided in the rescue and put out the blaze."
Officials say they do not believe the fire was suspicious in nature.