Jan 5, 2008 12:05 am US/Eastern
Fire Lieutenant Dies Battling Crown Heights Blaze
Medical Examiner Rules Smoke Inhalation As Cause Of Death
BROOKLYN (CBS) ―
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The FDNY is mourning the death of Lt. John H. Martinson, killed while battling a blaze in Brooklyn on Jan. 3.
CBS
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The flag flew at half-mast outside John Martinson's firehouse in Brooklyn.
CBS
A veteran fire lieutenant died battling a blaze in a high-rise apartment building in Brooklyn, leaving behind a wife who is pregnant their second child.
Engine 249 is in mourning after Lt. John H. Martinson died fighting a 2-alarm fire last night in Crown Heights. The blaze was on the 14th floor of a high rise apartment building, on what was once Ebbetts Field. Firefighters battled in the worst weather conditions for fighting a blaze: frigid cold, flames, wind and heavy smoke.
The medical examiner ruled Martinson, 40, died from smoke inhalation and burns suffered in the fire that injured 10 others.
"John was a hands-on kind of guy. He was quiet. But when John had something to say, you listened. He led by example in every aspect of his life," said FDNY Capt. Thomas Reilly.
Martinson, a 14-year veteran, who had also been a police officer, was found unconscious in the Bedford Avenue apartment where the fire began. He was one of the first of 100 firefighters to respond. Today residents and city officials offered sad condolences to Martinson's wife.
"The one thing that the wife wanted me to say, is the one thing I can't say. I can't bring back her husband," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Fire department sources say the room Martinson was found in was filled with smoke because it had one window facing west. Wind from the west blew smoke into the apartment and halls forcing Martinson to use his portable air. Because he was breathing heavily from his 14-floor climb up with equipment, he may have used up his oxygen faster than normal and been forced to take off his mask in the smoke filled room.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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