Page 5 - Patrick Barr News Today

Holding on to me too tight. so i grabbed him with my arms and legs. i didnt want to lose him. >> with barr holding tight to giagos, the pair is lowered to the floor below. where they spin and wait. >> there was so much going on in the building that no one realized i was out there. so thats when i hit the windows to alert them i was outside. and finally somebody noticed i was out there and thats when everybody came together and pulled me in. >> with giagos safely inside the building, barr turns t...

>> while other firefighters hold him down, shay lets out rope and begins slowly lowering barr. within seconds, barr is face to face with the trapped man. >> he was very exhausted and he was surprised to see me. >> standing in the smoke-filled window with the fire closing in, music producer jose giagos had been close to giving up in the seconds before barr appeared. >> i thought i was going to die. suddenly i hear a very loud voice. dont jump. dont jump. im here. and kind of caught my attention. ...

Window ledge of the 12th floor, looking like hes ready to jump to escape the growing heat and smoke. >> people will not burn to death. if they can jump, theyll jump. its that painful and its like youre drowning in smoke. >> barr is not yet anchored to anyone or anything. but he kicks his legs over the edge almost 200 feet above the ground to reassure the man in the window. >> barr is already hanging over the roof without having a rope attached to anything, letting him know not to jump, we were o...

The billowing smoke is caught on camera by news crews at street level and by ron pearlstein from his video production office directly across the street. >> i was sitting at my desk and i saw smoke. just a little smoke coming out of the window. then i saw more. i grabbed my camera, i started shooting. >> as pearlstein zooms in on the building, he sees a man perched on a window ledge trying to escape the thick smoke. >> im like, oh, my god, now this is a life or death situation. >> firefighters fr...

Further out on the ledge. >> i could hear the firemen saying stay calm, were on our way up. >> were on our way up. just stay there. >> by the time we got to the roof, i realized no one could get through the interior because there was such a large amount of fire. so they knew the only recourse was to get this guy from the roof. >> the firefighters from rescue one begin to prepare to lower barr by rope to grab the man. >> part of my equipment was the roof rope. so i brought it up, i would use it. ...

>> barr tells giagos to grab on to him. >> when he jumped on to me, he felt very weak and wasnt holding on to me too tight. so i grabbed him with my arms and legs. i didnt want to lose him. >> with barr holding tight to giagos, the pair is lowered to the floor below. where they spin and wait. >> there was so much going on in the building that no one realized i was out there. so thats when i hit the windows to alert them i was outside. and finally somebody noticed i was out there and thats when e...

Suddenly i hear a very loud voice. dont jump. dont jump. im here. and kind of caught my attention. and then, again, look up, look up. i open my eyes and i look up and i saw the boots and somebody coming down. it was like an angel. >> barr tells giagos to grab on to him. >> when he jumped on to me, he felt very weak and wasnt holding on to me too tight. so i grabbed him with my arms and legs. i didnt want to lose him. >> with barr holding tight to giagos, the pair is lowered to the floor below. w...

He knows if the rope frays or gets burned, it could snap and anyone hanging over the edge could plummet to his death. as brown leans over the edge to assure the trapped man that help is on the way, barr creates a harness with the rescue rope and climbs onto the parapet wall. the man is now standing on the window ledge of the 12th floor, looking like hes ready to jump to escape the growing heat and smoke. >> people will not burn to death. if they can jump, theyll jump. its that painful and its li...

Was out there and thats when everybody came together and pulled me in. >> with giagos safely inside the building, barr turns to acknowledge the cheering crowds below. >> they didnt know who the victim was. they didnt know who i was. they realized somebody just saved somebodys life. they appreciated that. >> i dont think thats a fireman, guys. >> but the rescue operation is far from over. theres actually a second man trapped on the other side of the floor. >> as i was bringing the rope back, look...

This is a life or death situation. >> firefighters from the fdny rescue one unit arrive at the building joining other crews already on scene. patrick barr and kevin shay now both retired were with rescue one that day. >> there was people on the street yelling and pointing up towards the roof of the building. we knew we had to get up there as fast as we could. >> i was afraid he would jump before we got to him. >> hes moving further and further out on the ledge. >> i could hear the firemen saying...