Firefighter injured in Staten Island fire released from hospital
The final firefighter injured in a massive fire on Staten Island last month was released from the hospital on Wednesday.
Lt. Bill Doody was met with a chorus of cheers, applause and bag pipes as he left Staten Island University Hospital.
He said he was overwhelmed by the outpouring as he recovered from burns.
“If I knew I was going to get treated this well, I would have gotten burned years ago,” Doody joked after being wheeled out of the hospital.
Doody was among the 22 firefighters injured in a major fire on Shotwell Avenue on Feb. 17.
Strong winds fanned the fire, shattered windows and fueled the inferno. Eleven minutes in, one firefighter was forced to jump from a second-floor balcony. Several minutes later, the lieutenant from Ladder 84 transmitted a mayday signal from the second floor — he had nowhere to go.
Of the 22 firefighters hurt that day, three were rushed to the hospital, but all are now home.
Top brass says it was a very close call and the department could have lost all three.
“The care I was given was beyond my imagination, also the FDNY — all the brothers that carried me out of the fire and got me home,” Doody said. “I had third degree burns on both my calves, my abdomen and my left arm, I had second degree burns on various other places on my body, my head, they’ve all healed very nicely, better than I thought they would. And they took the skin graph from my right thigh, which right now is bothering me the most. The rest of the injuries seem to have healed pretty well.”
The lieutenant will now continue his recovery at home.