IN REGARD TO REPLY # 1683 ABOVE BC HANK ZUERCHER ......
FROM DC JAY JONAS 2017 DV*7 NEWSLETTER.....
" Rescue 2 was called to the scene of the USS Constellation fire from operating at the site
of the plane crash from a
few days earlier at Park
Slope. They were led by Lieutenant Richard
Hamilton.
Upon arrival, Lieutenant Hamilton, Fr. Henry Zuercher, and Fr. Tony Motti made their way to the flight deck. They made their way down to the hanger deck. It is there that they found trapped and endangered workers. Lieutenant Hamilton sent a Firefighter to show them the way through the smoke to the exit to the flight deck.
They came upon a foreman
walking around in the smoke.
He told Lieutenant Hamilton that four of his men were trapped four decks below. Lieutenant Hamilton dispatched Fr. Motti to get a rope and a charged hose line to assist them in the rescue. The metal on the decks was hot. When Lieutenant Hamilton and Firefighter Zuercher made it to the bottom of the ladder, the foreman’s four friends were found
quickly. They were all semi-conscious. The two rescuers tied a bowline on a bight on the rope that was dropped down from Fr. Motti. One by one, the trapped workmen were raised to the upper decks of the ship. Lieutenant Hamilton had taken off his SCBA facepiece to give one of the trapped workers some fresh air. By the time the last worker was raised, Lieutenant Hamilton began to suffer from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning. His body was failing. Fr. Zuercher was
able to position Lieutenant Hamilton’s body on top of his shoulders and climb the vertical ladder. Both Firefighters were hospitalized."
'
THE ENTIRE NEWSLETTER.... http://www.fdnysbravest.com/Div7NewsletterNov2017.pdf
Also, Thank you to Mick Dick, "mikeindabronx", for his regular sharing and postings of DC Jay Jonas Division 7 Newsletter with us on this site.