North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue Captain Robert Reed was awoken early Tuesday morning around 2:15 a.m. by the screams of a woman outside his 19th Street home in the Shades section of Weehawken.
"I woke up when I heard the loud screams," Reed said. "I didn’t understand what the woman was screaming, but from my bedroom window, I saw the flames shooting out of the window of the apartment across the street. I told my wife [Sue] to call the Fire Department, that I was going in."
Neighbor Martha Minervini just happened to be sitting on her porch across the street and had noticed the flames coming from the first floor window, so she ran into the street screaming for help.
Reed jumped into his boots at the front door and ran into the six-family structure across the street without any protective gear.
"The first thing I did was close the front door to the apartment, to stop the fire from spreading," Reed said. "But I had to get in there. I knew the people who were in that apartment very well, ever since I was a baby. I grew up with them. Someone said that Mrs. Mack was trapped in there. I knew the building like the back of my hand. I had to get in there to help her."
While most of the residents were able to exit the burning building on their own to safety, one woman remained inside. Mrs. Mack is Maureen Mack, a long-time neighbor and friend of Reed’s. She was apparently trapped in the first-floor apartment.
"When I got inside, the smoke was to the floor," Reed said. "The conditions were really bad. I called to her and I thought I heard her, but I had to get out of there to catch my breath and try again. Mrs. Mack knew it was me. She said she recognized my voice."
Reed then grabbed Firefighter Paul Lopez, one of the first to arrive at the scene.
"I grabbed him by the collar, told him to get his mask and said, ‘You’re coming with me,’ " Reed said. "I knew exactly where she was, in the back, in the kitchen. We were able to grab her by the legs and drag her to the hallway. Thank God for Paul, because without him, I don’t know if I would have been able to find her."
Police Officer Augusto Same, who was on duty doing plainclothes crime detail, also arrived at the scene to provide assistance.
Reed was not done. He grabbed the hose line and dragged the line inside the burning building, still without any protective gear, to try to stop the fire from spreading to other apartments. Because of Reed’s quick thinking, the fire was contained to Mack’s bedroom.
However, Reed was hit with a burning ember, so he turned over the nozzle to another firefighter and exited the building to receive medical treatment.
Reed was treated at the scene for a burn to his hand. He was fortunate not to be injured further.
Condition improving
The 67-year-old Mack, the mother-in-law of Weehawken Police Lt. Thomas McGorty, was first treated at the scene by Weehawken Volunteer First Aid Squad EMTs and was transported to the Jersey City Medical Center.
Suffering from severe burns and smoke inhalation, Mack was then transferred to the famed burn center at St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston. She was first admitted in critical condition, but McGorty reported Thursday that she had dramatically improved and her condition was upgraded to stable. She may even be released from the hospital over the weekend.
"The quick thinking kept her alive," McGorty said. "She probably would have died from the smoke inhalation. At first, we didn’t know if she was going to make it, but she’s now breathing on her own. Thanks to the efforts of the people there, especially Bobby Reed, my mother-in-law is alive today. We’re very fortunate that Bobby lives right across the street. Those guys did a wonderful job. On behalf of my family, I’d like to thank all the people who helped to rescue my mother-in-law. They were a godsend. We’re very appreciative."
McGorty said that his mother-in-law did the right thing by moving away from the fire and crawling on the floor.
"She’s a pretty tough lady," McGorty said. "She saw the room go up and wound up getting two rooms away on her hands and knees. It was a godsend she got that far."
Extra oxygen
According to Weehawken Public Safety Director Jeff Welz, there is no official cause of the two-alarm blaze, although it has been determined that the victim’s use of oxygen for a pre-existing medical condition did enhance the severity of the fire.
"It points out that oxygen can increase the rapid movement of a fire," Welz said. "It’s very dangerous in fire conditions."
Welz said that the North Hudson Regional Fire & Rescue unit, under the supervision of Acting Deputy Chief Nick Gazzillo, extinguished the fire in less than a half hour and kept the damage to a minimum.
"Of the six units, three were allowed to go back in after the fire was put out," Welz said. "Two people stayed with family members and one was relocated to a local hotel. The firemen did a great job in containing the fire. There was an off-duty fire captain combined with an on-duty firefighter and an on-duty police officer, all teaming up to save the life of the matriarch of that neighborhood. We’re very proud of the efforts of the three main characters. It’s very gratifying that this wasn’t a catastrophe."
Reed said that he doesn’t feel like a hero.
"I would have done the same thing if I was still a truck driver," Reed said. "Whenever there’s a fire in the Shades, everyone comes out to help. Some people even pull the lines. We have a group of wonderful people who all help each other. It was a really intense fire and with the smoke, we got very lucky. Another 15 minutes, they all would have gone to sleep with the smoke. We would have lost a lot of people. We were very fortunate."