Raven 2009 Fall.pdf - St. Raymond High School for Boys

Alumni Highlights!
Hero of the Month Daily News
by Patrice O’Shaughnessy • Daily News
After three decades in the Fire Department,
Lt. kevin Flanagan ‘71 has the
courage and dedication you’d expect
from a veteran. He also has the enthusiasm
of a rookie.
On January 18, 2009, he crawled toward
flames without the
protection of a fire
hose to rescue an
elderly woman
from her burning
apartment, where
she lay unconscious
amid black
smoke. It was the
second time in
about three years
he saved a life. “It
is really satisfying,
when you make a
difference in somebody’s
life,” Flanagan
said. “But the
whole thing is satisfying.”
For his quick action in the fire and his
long commitment to the city Flanagan, 55,
is the Daily News Hero of the Month
(March 2009).
20
“I found her, but
the other guys were
there with me...
administering first
aid. It was a team
effort.”
“Lt. Flanagan has served this department
for over 30 years. “Throughout his career he
has served with valor and bravery,” said Fire
Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. “He truly
represents the best of the city’s bravest.”
At 6:25 am on January 18, Ladder 28 responded
to 140 Brad-
hurst Avenue, where
Kevin Flanagan ‘71
there was a fire on the
fourth floor.
“When we pulled up, I
saw smoke, but I wasn’t
sure if it was steam, because
it was so cold out.”
Flanagan said.
“There was no visible
fire. When I got to the
fourth floor a man said a
lady was screaming in
Apt. 4-K. The door was
locked so we forced it
open. When we opened
the door a little, the
smoke was rolling out,
and the door was hot, so I knew there was
fire inside.”
“I crawled ten feet in. She was on the floor
on her back,” Flanagan said. “I only had half
the width of the hallway, because there was a
chest, and clutter.”
The victim was lying between the chest
and the wall. “I tried to turn her by the shoulder;
I had to drag her a little by her legs and
then turn her around,” Flanagan said.
“She was not responsive at all. There was
very heavy smoke and she was breathing it.
The windows hadn’t failed, so all the smoke
was still in there. The studio was on fire; it was
coming toward us.” It was mostly smoke,
confusion and darkness. Another firefighter
used his water can to hold back the fire
long enough for Flanagan to grab hold of
the victim and get her out of the room.
“I heard she was conscious by the time
they got her into the ambulance,” Flanagan
said. “That was a good sign.”
Then the whole room ended up going up
in flames before the fire was able to be extinguished.
The victim spent 20 days in the hospital,
then went to a rehabilitation center.
“I found her, but the other guys were there
with me, stretching a line, administering first
aid,” Flanagan said of his rescue. “It was a
team effort.
Flanagan grew up in the Bronx, the son
and grandson of city firemen. His two sons
are the fourth generation of Flanagans in the
FDNY. He has spent his career in the Bronx
and Harlem, and has been at Ladder 28 on
W. 143rd Street for 12 years watching the
great change in the neighborhood.
“There are almost no vacant buildings. We
have less structural fires. I see a comeback in
the neighborhood, that’s for sure,” he said.
“We’re still busy. In January, we had 425 runs,
and in February just under 300; it’s a short
month.”
Flanagan was awarded a department
medal in 2005 for a rescue that mirrors this
latest rescue. On a steamy summer morning,
his company responded to an apartment fire
in a 30 story building on W. 155th Street.
Residents told firefighters a boy was still inside.
Without the hose from the street below,
Flanagan crawled into the three bedroom
apartment, with another firefighter containing
the fire in the living room with a water
can. Flanagan found the ten year old boy in
back bedroom and got him out.
“He was revived. The fact that he made it
continued on pg. 21