By Kevin Macdonald
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — Four FDNY firefighters were honored Tuesday afternoon for their heroic efforts in rescuing tenants stranded in a high-rise Midtown apartment building engulfed in flames earlier this month.
Firefighters Darren Harsch, Adam Nordenschild, Artur Podgorski, and Belvon Koranteng each received proclamations for their daring rope rescues on Nov. 5, during a blaze in an apartment building on East 52nd Street in Manhattan.
“This, in so many ways, is everything the FDNY is about. This was the ultimate teamwork. Some of these members who were literally hanging off of a building together had just worked together that day, and they weren’t even in the same firehouse together,” Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said during the ceremony at Engine Company 39, and Ladder Company 16.
From left, FDNY firefighters Darren Harsch, Adam Nordenschild, Artur Podgorski, and Belvon Koranteng, stand beside FDNY Commissioner Laura Laura Kavanagh as she speaks at Engine Company 39, and Ladder Company 16.
(Photo/Barry Williams)
FDNY said Sunday that 43 civilians, firefighters and police officers were injured in the apartment fire.
(Photo/Theodore Parisienne/Tribune News Service)
FDNY firefighter Belvon Koranteng, poses with Mayor Eric Adams as he receives a proclamation for a rope rescue at Engine Company 39, and Latter Company 16.
(Photo/Barry Williams)
FDNY firefighter Adam Nordenschild poses with Mayor Eric Adams as he receives a proclamation for a rope rescue at Engine Company 39, and Latter Company 16.
(Photo/Barry Williams)
FDNY firefighter Artur Podgorski poses with Mayor Eric Adams as he receives a proclamation for a rope rescue at Engine Company 39, and Latter Company 16.
(Photo/Barry Williams)
FDNY firefighter Darren Harsch shakes hands with Mayor Eric Adams as he receives a proclamation for a rope rescue at Engine Company 39, and Latter Company 16.
(Photo/Barry Williams)
The four firefighters rescued a desperate woman hanging from a window 20 stories above the street as dozens of people were trapped inside the building after an e-bike battery sparked the massive blaze.
“November 5, we saw what bravery looks like,” Mayor Eric Adams said during the ceremony. “Anyone who saw that video that went viral saw just how dangerous it was.”
Read next
Video: ‘You have to work together,’ says FDNY firefighter describing dramatic high-rise rescue
Four crewmembers were on the rope during the rarely needed, lifesaving maneuver
©2022 New York Daily News
Visit nydailynews.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
