I immediately called 911 while my friend went down to alert neighbors and find the fire. While I told the dispatcher where to send the trucks and wrangled the cat into her carrier with the help of my buddy's girlfriend, he himself was two floors down, calling instructions through the closed door of the burning apartment "Stay low! Open the door if you can." She was reluctant to open up but he finally prevailed upon her (from her later behavior one might surmise that she was drunk, or... but it's hard to tell; smoke inhalation can fuck a mind up on its own). He burst in and carried her to safety, then mobilized some neighbors and the super to help fight the fire.

The entire stove was on fire, as well as the wall behind it. Flames were curling along the ceiling, and they had buckets of water (and sand! from the top of the fire stairs! Hooray for a prepared super) and a fire extinguisher.

It wasn't long before the firemen arrived and I opened the front door to the building and held it for them, telling them "fourth floor! rear of the building! Fourth floor, in the rear!" while they ran in by the dozens, with picks and hoses and oxygen tanks and eventually wedges to hold the doors open so I could get the fuck out of the way.

The fire was contained inside the one apartment, and everyone was safe. The "chief" (I have no idea what firemen's ranks are, but the guy in the short-sleeved white shirt who was running the show) told my buddy that he had probably saved the woman's life by getting her out of there, and that we'd probably saved the building by responding so quickly, and that my buddy deserved a citation for what he did.

The woman he saved, on the other hand, tried to fight with the firemen to keep them away, and tried to fight with the EMTs who were helping her, and tried to fight with the cops who eventually showed up, until they strapped her face down to a stretcher, hands cuffed behind her back. I don't know what her problem was, but her actions, from initially refusing to open her door to kicking and punching at firemen while they tried to put out the blaze, put the rest of the tenants in the building in serious danger.

I'm so proud of my buddy for what he did; he'll downplay it but I know (and the fire chief knows) that he saved a life last night, whether she's terribly grateful for it or not. And he's thankful to me for remembering the cat and for making sure his girlfriend was safe, but I wouldn't have dreamed of leaving without either of them.

I was up 'til 3 last night with adrenaline racing through me, and today my eyelids feel like lead leaves with sand trapped under them, and there's an acrid smoky smell in my nose even after three showers, and I'm reeling with emotion, but we're all safe, and so is everybody else in that building, so it went well, as far as these things go.

I'm glad everything is okay and you acquitted yourself well.

Wow! I dunno what else to say...

That's crazy! Good for you for checking out the smoke smell and for your buddy for being a Rescue Hero. I'm glad everyone is alright.Wonder what that woman had to hide? Meth lab?

Good sniffer you got there. Awesome story. I wonder what was up with the woman?

(in other words, everything jrossi just said...)

Wow! Congratulations all around. I can imagine the adrenaline would be coursing quite fierce!

God bless your buddy! I'm so glad no one was hurt.

Sounds like she was on something, or mentally ill. Very sad turned scary!

Wow! Adventure! Good job, Hugh and friend. You did a fine thing.

Could've been blind panic on her part. Glad everyone's alright.

I'm a little leery of jumping to conclusions, but I've seen her looking pretty fucked up before, in a nod trying to smoke a cigarette in the park, stock still leaning forward at that impossible smack angle. And she was certainly fucked up last night, though I'd probably act pretty strange if my apartment caught fire. I'm trying to give more people the benefit of the doubt these days and I don't know enough about panic and smoke inhalation to be sure she wasn't just scared and delirious. But yeah, I wonder what was up with her, too.

Her neighbor directly across the way has two large threatening rottweilers, and I'm glad it wasn't their apartment on fire, or my buddy might have had a tougher time of it.

YAY FOR HUGH!

*cheers your friend and you and the NYFD*

Woo hoo, our Hugh is a hero!!!!

NYFD is the greatest (not having called 911 before, I don't know for sure about any other firefighting corps, but I'm ready to believe that they're all fantastic). They were there so fast, and they were all considerate, and they all gave me props for bringing the cat down, and a few of them even made mewing sounds at her; they were also really cool to the kids hanging around barefoot out front of the building, hopping back and forth over the firehose and poking at things on the engine.

And when the chief was talking to my buddy after the show (before the tenant had been cuffed and stretchered away), my buddy was asking about whether she'd be able to sleep in her apartment or if the fumes were too much, and the chief said, "You tell me," to which my buddy said, "No, I'm asking you." The chief said, "No, I really don't know; you've seen her apartment?"

"Yeah, just now while I was trying to deal with her burning stove."

"Come in here, then," the chief said. "You see a bed? How's she gonna sleep here without a bed?"

Nope. She didn't own a bed, or a mattress, or anything to sleep on.

I love New York.

Nothing better than saving people. Good work.

...and cats... Nothing better than saving people and CATS...

I like the way you write and tell stories. I am glad to hear you are all safe.

Wow, that's awesome Hugh, the way you and your friend sprang into action... above and beyond, truly. Glad everyone's alright.

Wow! What a story! Good job!

Hoorah!

Glad to hear it's a happy story, all things considered.

Oh believe me, I'll wrap a cat in a towel and pass it out the window faster than you can say "You never leave a man behind."

Hey, that beats going down with the building, yelling "Victory!", eh?
Honestly, you should write a story/piece about it and sell it to the Voice or the Press. (Sorry if that sounds momish...)

Just curious - what movie were you going to watch?

All kinds of kicking ass.

It makes me glad I'm a paranoid asshole about fire and I investigate shit like stinky smouldering ashtrays and whatever else.

I live in a kind of dangerous tinderbox thats already has some pretty serious fire damage and a bit of code-violating electrical work. (It's damn good electrical work, but we need to keep an eye on it.)

Which reminds me, I do need to get a new fire extinguisher. A couple of 'em. Big ones.

Yeah, never mind all this firefighter action hero shit - WHAT MOVIE WERE YOU GOING TO WATCH?

;-)

Nice work there mister.

L'Âge d'or.

hey, not to take away from the heroics of it at all (mucho props), but it's also an interesting story. Come on, you went to art school.

*sets LT's pantleg on fire*

Thanks goodness no one was hurt!

And Hugh, don't down-play your part. Having the presence of mind to call 911 and give clear and concise directions when in a tizzy is no small feat. You did good.

You don't have a cat in your pants, do you, LT?

I know for a fact that most people here would do something similar, deborah; I hope that anyone here who is unable to do these things knows that they have a neighbor who would. I was a Boy Scout, and I did exactly as I was drilled to, twenty years ago. But yeah, it was quite a rush to do the right thing at the right time and help the big guys do their job, too. I'm so tired thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.

One funny thing about it -- when we were downstairs, out front, people who lived in the building were coming up, asking what was going on, and once they heard the fire was on an upper floor, saying "Oh, I live on the second," and starting to walk in, stepping over the firehoses and trying to push past the working firemen to get into a burning building.

Where do these people come from?

Wow. Glad it wasn't worse, but still.

Not to take anything away from you, Hugh, but I've got two fire stories, one of them right here and here's the other:

Back when I was still in high school, we were having a little scary movie & sleep over at my place with me, my then-boyfriend, my best friend and her then-boyfriend (who was an engineer). Some time around 3 am or so, the engineer wakes up, sits up bolt-upright and says, "Car's on fire." We look across the street and sure enough, the car that's right next to my then-boyfriend's Frankenmobile Suzuki Samurai jeep is on fire, flames shooting out of it hood. While I'm on the phone to 911 (and it had already been called in), the engineer takes the time to move his car away from the conflagration while we're just standing there and hoping that the Jeep doesn't catch on fire either.

With so many people with portable phones, I can't see why more people don't call 911 when this kind of stuff happens.

awesome, hugh. You and your friend most likely saved a lot more lives than just the person in that apartment!

I love all firefighters everywhere. I'm reminded of the Crazy Bitch (tm) who almost burnt my apartment down many years ago, and how fast the Buffalo FD was here. (and how I aced the photography class I was taking since I managed to grab my camera before running out of the building)

You know, from your descriptions of her behavior and the condition of her apartment, I wouldn't have been shocked if she'd lit the stove to light a smoke, or (even worse) using the burner to cook up.

My sister's car set on fire once. We were driving along the highway, and the engine stopped and started while we were going 55+, so we pull over to a parking lot, get out, get our stuff out. The car is smoking, not stopping, we could even see little bits of fire falling out of the engine. Our Dad came, and he was opening the hood when it started to bubble (he stepped away). Someone called the fire department. We all stood back- I was scared the car would explode (like morons, we parked right next to other cars, so it could've started a chain reaction of explosions, I suppose?) As obnoxious and loud I think sirens are, there is nothing in the world like hearing them and knowing, they're coming for ME! They're coming to save ME! Great feeling.

LT HAS CATPANTS! Um, sorry. Continue.

I'm currently wearing a t-shirt with a drawing of a cat by Mrs. Pants on it.

Nice work, Hugh & Hugh's buddy.

I'm speechless! Great story! I'm glad everyone is okay. I know everyone says that as long as everyone gets out okay, that's the most important thing. But really, losing all your possessions can be devestating in itself. So I'm glad your friend's apartment was still okay, and I'm impressed with your swift reactions.