Firefighters risked their lives to rescue two women and two boys from a fire in Queens on Jan. 27.

“Because of the work of FDNY members, four lives were saved today,” said Deputy Chief Paul Ferro of Division 13. “It was an extremely spectacular rescue.”

The fire on 93rd St. was first reported on the second floor of a three-story private dwelling. Fire was blowing out the front and rear windows of the residence, and there were reports of people trapped on the third floor.

Lt. Mike Fitall of Ladder 143 crawled up the stairs in zero visibility and found a woman lying face-down on the stairs between the second and third floors.

She was unconscious and her face was bright red, so he called Firefighters Jason Griffiths, who was assigned to Engine 294, and Tim Murphy from Ladder 143 to help remove her from the building.

Once outside they began CPR, along with Firefighter Doug Caffarone from Ladder 143, as EMS members arrived to help.

“It was great to see her come back to life,” said Firefighter Griffiths.

At the same time, Firefighter Mike Czech from Ladder 142 took the tower ladder to the third floor window with Firefighter Edward Rissland.

In the apartment they found a mother on the floor huddled with one young boy and another boy on the bed - all three were unconscious.

“There were only two of us and three victims - and we knew we couldn’t exit the building from inside - so we knew we had to move fast,” said Firefighter Rissland. “It was a total team effort.”

Firefighter Czech added, “I just tried to get them to Ed as fast as possible, so we could pass them off to EMS and let them get to work.”

The victims were transported to Mary Immaculate and Jamaica Hospitals for trauma. Three of the victims were later moved to New York Hospital for their hyperbaric chamber.

“This was absolutely a team effort,” said EMS Deputy Chief Howard Sickles of Division 4. “Four lives were saved. It was a great day.”

Fire marshals determined the fire was caused by careless smoking in the second floor apartment.

Yet FDNY members noted they were pleased to see the third floor apartment had a working smoke detector, which awakened the residents and helped save their lives.

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