Infant, mother in critical condition after being pulled from a house fire in the Bronx
MORRISANIA, The Bronx (WABC) -- A mother and child were critically injured in a fire at a house in the Bronx Friday morning.
Flames broke out inside the home on Tinton Avenue in the Morrisania section around 6 a.m.
Gerald Richards said he was awakened by loud noises and the sounds of people shouting.
The 65-year-old sustained cuts to his hand from breaking a window.
He then shimmied down the side of the house to safety and immediately yelled for his daughter-in-law to throw down his one-and-a-half-year-old grandson.
"Once I opened the window and got to the back, she was supposed to throw the baby to me so I could catch the baby, but the smoke was too much," Richards said.
Ultimately, 24-year old Carrie Andrews and her son Jason were evacuated by firefighters who used a ladder to access the second floor.
They were taken to Jacobi Medical Center where they are listed in critical condition.
Richards was treated and released from the hospital.
Five EMTs from a nearby ambulance station who were first on the scene were treated for smoke inhalation.
"Those guys did a great job in directing the fire units, letting the fire units know that there were trapped civilians," FDNY Deputy Chief Brian Shovlin said.
Fire marshals spent the afternoon investigating the cause of the windswept fire that also damaged the house next door.
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