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Story and Photos by: Firefighter Elvin Padilla Jr., OFD On the heels of talk about a merger and possible abolishment of the Orange Fire Department, by a Citizen Watch Group and at least one council member, the Orange New Jersey Fire Department once again without hesitation, as they do all too often, responded to 98 High Street on what appeared to be another alarm activation in one of six senior citizen complexes in the City of Orange. As Deputy Chief Frank Minetti arrived, workers and tenants advised him that there was no cause for alarm. Deputy Chief Minetti fortunately ordered Captain Gerald Ciavatta and his crew to proceed to the sixth floor to investigate the activation. Once the crew from Engine 1 reached the sixth floor, an urgent radio transmission was made reporting a working fire in apartment 6B. Crews immediately connected their attack lines to the standpipe system, forced entry and commenced with an aggressive interior attack. Captain Ciavatta ordered a primary search of the apartment. During the search Firefighter’s Terence Corbert, Joseph Antonucci and Mich Almendinger found a semi-conscious female in the kitchen area. Crews quickly removed the tenant and carried her down to the lobby where they were met by firefighters from Engine 2 of the West Orange Fire Department, who had responded to the fire on a mutual aid request. The Orange and West Orange firefighters provided life saving medical treatment to the critical patient while awaiting the arrival of ambulance and paramedic units. Deputy Chief Minetti requested that the ambulance expedite due to the condition of the patient. Once the ambulance arrived they continued to treat the patient for multiple third degree burns and difficulty breathing. The patient who was later identified as 72 year old Patricia Britt was transported to Saint Barnabas Hospital Burn Unit of Livingston in critical but stable condition. If not for the quick response, aggressive fire attack and thorough search by the Orange Fire Department this senior citizen would have perished. | |
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