FDNY Chief announced that during a 3-Alarm Fire in the Bronx today which occured at 1783 Westchester Avenue, a female EMS worker was assaulted and held against her will until coworkers were able to pull her away. The suspect was apprehended.
“We had an unbelievable and despicable incident happen. We had one of our EMTs assaulted on the scene. We are out here ready to save the lives of the people who depend on us, out in the freezing cold while our Firefighters are fighting this fire. We had a young EMT, female, who was flagged down, as we are very often, for somebody in need of help. As she approached this particular person, she was assaulted, inappropriately grabbed and held. It required the help of one of our coworkers to try to help her break out of that situation. It is disgusting and inappropriate. EMS is always here to save your life, always here to help you no matter what the situation, no matter who you are or where you come from, we are here, ready to assist. None of our people should have to come to work and deal with a situation like that. Thankfully, NYPD was able to apprehend this particular person, he is in custody at this moment. Our EMT is being followed up with and supported thoroughly by the Fire Department and NYPD. I want to just remind everybody that assaulting EMS members is a felony. We will not tolerate it, we will follow through 100% and we support the full prosecution of anybody who puts their hands on an EMS member. EMS is here to save your lives, let’s take care of them.”
The fire originated at a commercial store just after 6:10 a.m. Firefighters had to fight for from outside due to heavy smoke.
A total of seven businesses were affected, but no injuries were reported at the time of the fire. Information about the assault was released later in the morning.
Video of the 3-Alarm by Daniel Valls (FNTV freedomnews.tv)
