Page 5 - Patrick Barr News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

The man is now standing on the window ledge of the 12th floor, looking like he's ready to jump to escape the growing heat and smoke. >> people will not burn to death. if they can jump, they'll jump. it's that painful and it's like you're 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 on our way. >> quickly shay attaches the other end of barr's rope...

>> time was running out. i'm not going to let the guy jump. guy's not jumping while i'm working. period. >> lieutenant brown assures barr the firefighters on the roof have his back. >> he just said, we're not going to drop you. we won't let you go. >> 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 befor...

So i grabbed him with my arms and legs. i didn't 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 that's when i hit the windows to alert them that i was outside. and finally somebody noticed i was out there and that's when everybody came together and pulled me in. >> with giagos safely inside the building, barr turns to acknowledge the cheering crowds below. >> they didn't know who the victim was. they didn't know who i was. they realiz...

Further out on the ledge. >> i could hear the firemen saying stay calm, we're on our way up. >> we're 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. it had to be by rope because the ladders wouldn't reach him. >> lieutenant patrick patty brown is ...

>> 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. >> i'm like, oh, my god, now 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 build...