By Andrew Coen
In the early-morning hours of Tuesday, July 1, Inwood resident Marianne Picillo was on the top floor of her three-story home on Wanser Avenue playing with her 4-year-old daughter, Isabella, and 2-year-old son, Steven.
The idyllic scene turned into a nightmare, though, when an electrical fire broke out on the first floor, unbeknown to Picillo and her children, who continued to play.
Luckily, the quick response and teamwork of the Inwood Fire Department and the Nassau County Fourth Precinct police unit saved them, in what became a dramatic rescue.
"In some ways it's heroic, but in other ways we were just doing our job," said Inwood's first assistant fire chief, Thomas Havey.
Picillo's mother-in-law, Consalata Picillo, who lives downstairs, was outside, leaving to take food to a church pantry, when she saw smoke and flames on the first floor. She called 911, but the Fourth Precinct officers first to arrive on the scene, Gerald Friel, a 25-year veteran of the Valley Stream Fire Department, and Paul Pich, thought they were responding to a robbery, because of miscommunication due to the grandmother's "broken English." They instead found the front of the house engulfed in flames.
The officers called the Inwood Fire Department, and Nassau County Fire Department dispatcher Ralph Merz, understanding the severity of the situation, remained on the line and relayed pertinent information to the responding units.
The Inwood department received the call for a house fire with people trapped at 8:15 a.m., and Havey arrived on the scene minutes later. Using the information relayed by Merz, he and the officers located Picillo and her children, who were trapped at the rear of the third floor.
Havey and the officers encountered clouds of smoke when they first attempted to enter the house on the first floor, from the back. "The heat was so intense that I stepped two feet in front of the door and I was immediately pushed back by the smoke," Havey said.
Havey, who arrived before a ladder truck, had to find a way to reach the trapped family on the third floor. With the assistance of Officers Friel and Pich, he was able to find a contractor's ladder on the property and climb to the roof of the second-story back porch. Havey, Friel and Pich formed a chain on the ladder. After some hesitation, Picillo passed the children to the trio and climbed out the window with their assistance. Thirty members of the Lawrence-Cedarhurst, Woodmere, Hewlett and Valley Stream fire departments also responded, helping to extinguish the fire.
Havey's finding the ladder was critical in the rescue effort. "If there wasn't a ladder, it would've gotten hairy," Havey said.
According to Friel, who is a member of Brooklyn Avenue's Engine Company 2, the entire rescue took place within minutes. Although the rescuers only had time to react to the situation, in hindsight, Friel credits the experience gained as a fire fighter with coming in handy during the rescue.
"It all went pretty quickly from the time we saw the grandmother in the driveway," Friel said in a phone interview. "There really wasn't too much thought to it - it was a reaction, an instant type of thing. We all worked really well together."
Friel, who was raised in Valley Stream, joined the department at 18 and rose through the ranks to become a lieutenant and captain in his fire house. While Friel has responded to numerous fires in progress, he said this was the first rescue he was directly involved in, and he did it wearing a police officer's uniform.
The three victims were taken to St. John's Hospital in Far Rockaway, where they were treated and released for smoke inhalation. Two firefighters received minor injuries in the course of extinguishing the blaze.
"I don't think I knew how bad it was until after," said a shaken Picillo, realizing how close she and her children came to tragedy. "It's very scary. I haven't been able to stop crying."
The fire was caused by a short-circuit in a 30-year-old electrical outlet, said Picillo, and her home sustained extensive damage. The first floor was the most heavily damaged, but Picillo said the entire home must be gutted and redone. The Picillos are staying with family for the time being.
Picillo was grateful for the efforts of the fireman and officers in saving their lives. "They were great," she said. "They got there right in time. I can't thank them enough."
Nicole Falco contributed to this story
