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The incident took place in Dutchess County around 9:45 a.m., on Wednesday, Feb. 16 in Pleasant Valley.
According to Lieutenant Shawn Castano, of the Dutchess County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to assist the Pleasant Valley Fire Department at the scene of a reported structure fire with a resident trapped at the Country Commons Apartments located at 216 West Road in Pleasant Valley.
The first arriving sheriff’s deputies reported smoke showing from the apartment and the trapped resident out of the apartment, Castano said.
Castano said a neighbor, Joshua Constable, forcibly entered the burning apartment and began to rescue the resident who was trapped and yelling for help.
In addition to Constable, two contractors from an alarm company, Bruce Griffing II and Ronald Rembert, who were working in the complex, also entered the apartment and assisted with removing the trapped resident.
Griffing then closed the apartment door which helped to delay the spread of the fire, Castano said.
“By entering the burning apartment under heavy smoke and heat conditions, these three men displayed a selfless act of bravery that led to the rescue of a seventy-one-year-old male from this fire," said Dutchess County Sheriff Kirk A. Imperati. "I commend Mr. Constable, Mr. Griffing, and Mr. Rembert for their actions.”
Pleasant Valley firefighters, assisted by fire departments, extinguished the two-alarm fire.
Mobile Life Support Services transported the fire victim to Mid-Hudson Regional Hospital, and he was later flown to Westchester Medical Center due to his burn injuries.
The Dutchess County Fire Investigation Division and the Sheriff’s Office Fire & Arson Investigation Unit are investigating the origin and cause of the fire.
An initial investigation indicates that the fire was accidental, officials said.
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