Trio of Irvington firefighters honored for heroic efforts

In a handful of minutes last March, the men of Ladder Company 42 in Irvington went from the relative comfort of their Civic Square firehouse to confronting a 1,000-degree inferno a mile away. A deputy chief was already at the fire scene, a 2.5-story wood-frame building on Ellis Street and a neighboring house, both in flames.

"He told us there was a report of a bunch of older people trapped in there," Capt. Nicholas Morley said. "There was fire in every window, in both houses. It was a firestorm."

In a township that has 300 abandoned buildings, several of them occupied by squatters, Morley and two firefighters, Alexandre Lima and Broden Swanson, battle several such blazes each year, the 22-year department veteran said.

"We got to get in there and do what we got to do, because that's what we get paid for," Morley said in recounting the fires, for which the three firefighters were recognized for valorous action last week. "That's our first job, to protect life."

Morley, Lima and Swanson were among dozens of firefighters from throughout the state saluted by hundreds of colleagues at the Saint Barnabas Burn Foundation 22nd Annual Valor Awards Thursday night.

The fire at 210 Ellis St. presented special challenges for the men of Ladder 42. "We had no water, and we got in there with a lot of fire," Morley said.

Lima then had his oxygen mask taken off by a resident and got out.

Swanson, battling back intense heat and smoke, dropped to all fours to continue searching for the building's occupants. He found one, an older man trying to find the front door.

Swanson brought the man back to the rear of house, where four other occupants huddled against the rising heat and approaching flames.

A rear door would have allowed them to get out, but it was dead-bolted shut.

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