WEST SENECA
Passer-by saves life at blaze in West Seneca tavern
Hero’s quick action helps to stop fire
A hero.
That’s what spectators are calling West Seneca resident David Rodriguez, who ran into a 2 1/2-story building to put out a grease fire and save a man’s life.
Rodriguez, 40, arrived at Talty’s, a tavern at 2056 South Park Ave., at 2:32 p. m., only two minutes after the fire started.
Rodriguez saw the smoke seeping through the windows, and people running out from the building coughing.
One of those men was Talty’s regular John Knezevic. Knezevic had attempted to wake a sleeping man on the second floor by kicking in the front door and climbing the stairs, but he couldn’t make it further than the fourth step as the smoke was too heavy.
Spectators were staring at the second story windows where 62-year-old Ray Wade was still asleep in his bed.
Rodriguez said he knew he could not wait for the Fire Department and had to stop the fire himself. He looked for another way into the building. He said Knezevic gave him a boost atop the small roof beside the building, where Rodriguez kicked in a window and entered the home.
“I grabbed a few pots when I found the source of the fire — a grease-filled pan on top of the stove,” he said. “I started filling them with water and dousing everything,” Rodriguez said. “I threw a few burning pots out of the front windows, then began dousing the ceiling, floor and walls. I did it. I stopped the fire.
“If it wasn’t for me, this guy would have had a big fire and there would have been casualties.”
Fire rescue crews arrived as Rodriguez searched for a way to find Wade. Capt. Dan Flaherty and other firefighters made their way into the smoke-filled tavern, and Flaherty found and rescued Wade.
Rodriguez said when Wade awoke, he said, “I can’t see. I can’t breathe.”
Wade was rushed to the emergency room at Erie County Medical Center for treatment of smoke inhalation, burns on his right arm and cuts on his forehead; his condition was not available Friday night.
“It was a good job, and one helluva rescue,” Fire Marshal Edwin Ortiz said of Rodriguez’s effort.
The fire caused $25,000 in damages to the building and $10,000 to its contents, Ortiz said.
Knezevic said Rodriguez’s courageous efforts impressed the crowd that had gathered to watch. He said within two minutes, Rodriguez had thrown the pots out of the window and kicked open every window possible to let smoke out of the building.
He said without Rodriguez’s quick thinking and determination to stop the fire, both the building and Wade could be in much more serious condition.
“That guy is a hero,” Knezevic said. “There was no time to think, and without him, I honestly fear what might have happened. I’ve been going to that tavern for more than 20 years. I couldn’t do anything. This great stranger was only there for two minutes and saved it all. He is surely a hero.”
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