Chief Dennis Rubin, Tim Sattler, and Danny McCoy.

(Washington, DC)  The apartment building at 2400 Alabama Avenue was on fire. Firefighters from Engine 32 were making an aggressive attack on the outside while Sergeant Danny McCoy and Firefighter Tim Sattler of Truck 16 were inside searching the building. There was no light and no air to breathe, and two boys, ages four and six, were missing. Sattler and McCoy located one boy lying unconscious near a wall. The other boy, also unconscious, was found lying on a bed. EMS Lt. Edward Winslow later said the boys were in respiratory arrest; although their hearts were beating, they weren’t breathing. Firefighter/Paramedic Dave Brown, Firefighter Paul Ridgely and others worked for several minutes to get the children breathing again.

When speaking about the incident, Fire and EMS Chief Dennis L. Rubin said, “It’s during critical times like these that firefighters must rely on their training and experience to pull them through. I couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome.” The boys have since been released from the hospital. Investigators say the likely cause of the 6 am blaze was food left cooking on the stove. It has not been determined if there was a working smoke alarm inside the apartment at the time of the fire.