A trio of firefighters were recovering Wednesday after suffering serious injuries, including a heart attack, in a 4-alarm fire that tore through a Bronx home and spread to several more Tuesday.
The blaze, which was started by children playing with fire on a stovetop, broke out just after 12:30 p.m. on East 235th Street in Wakefield, an FDNY spokesman said. It quickly spread, igniting a total of five homes as 170 firefighters and EMS personnel responded.
But in the chaos of the flames, three firefighters were seriously injured.
Joseph Brady, 51, was in critical but stable condition at Jacobi Medical Center after suffering a heart attack and heat stroke. Brady has been a firefighter for 17 years, according to the department.
Patrick Morello, 34, suffered heat stroke and was also in critical but stable condition at Jacobi. He has been a firefighter for 11 years.
Lt. Joseph Martorell, 54, suffered serious burns and was treated and released from the hospital. He has been a firefighter for 26 years.
As the fire was blazing, a separate truck of firefighters were relocated from Queens to the Bronx.
But on their way there, they got into an accident at about 3:45 p.m. near the intersection of Westchester Avenue and Waters Place, and 44-year-old Sean O’Rourke, with the department for 14 years, suffered a serious injury to his arm.
O’Rourke went into surgery late Tuesday night at Jacobi, according to the FDNY.
