STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A retired member of the FDNY looks back fondly on his time in the department and one man in particular who he’s certain saved his life some 50 years ago.
Bob McNellis, 80, a former Bay Ridge resident now residing in Central Florida, remembers one unforgettable call in 1974 while he was a member of Engine 220 in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
The company wasn’t making much progress working to extinguish a blaze in a commercial building a block from the firehouse. Abruptly and without explanation, Lt. Robert Kearns announced to his men: “We’re getting out of here.”
“It was no sooner that we got our hose out to the street outside that the building collapsed,” McNellis said. “Lt. Kearns being more experienced than us young firefighters saved our lives. I don’t know if we ever got a chance to thank him. Maybe we were in shock.”
McNellis, who lost touch with Kearns over the years, believes the lieutenant lived on Staten Island with his family in the vicinity of the NYPD’s 122nd Precinct stationhouse in New Dorp.
“I don’t even know if he was given any recognition or honors on FDNY medal day they hold once a year,” McNellis said. “He saved me and three other firefighters.”
McNellis described Kearns simply as a nice, God-fearing man, and wants more than anything to let Kearns’ family know that he considers him “a hero who did his job well.”
“If it wasn’t for Kearns, me and two other guys on the line would have been goners,” McNellis said.
Read the full article here
