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The 17-year-old Ridgefield Park High School senior remained in stable but critical condition following several surgeries at Hackensack University Medical Center, they said.
The junior firefighter, whose name was withheld because of his age, had completed a training exercise before the call came in at 2:12 p.m. Sunday, Fire Chief John Antola Jr. said.
A fire had erupted in a makeshift wooden garbage bin about 10 feet behind Kiseki, a Japanese restaurant at the corner of Mount Vernon Street and Lincoln Avenue, the chief said in a release.
Crews from two companies were stretching separate hose lines when a pressurized cannister exploded inside the receptacle.
“The junior firefighter was assisting in setting up an attack hose line when the explosion occurred…sending shrapnel and debris” in his direction, Antola said.
He was “hit in multiple areas by the shrapnel and sustained severe trauma across the body, resulting in major bleeding,” he said.
“A tourniquet was applied almost immediately by the attending firefighter and police officer to one of his legs above one area of major trauma,” the chief said.
“The immediate application of the tourniquet is credited by medical professionals as potentially saving his life,” he added.
Lt. Christopher Santana also sustained an ear injury in the explosion, Antola said.
He was taken to Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck and was released later in the day, the chief said.
Village firefighters quickly knocked down the two-alarm blaze, which extended to the exterior of the restaurant. They had it under control at 3:15 p.m., a little over an hour after it began.
The cause was under investigation, Antola said.
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