A hero US Postal worker caught infant twin boys whose father tossed them from the third-floor fire escape of a Bronx apartment house that was engulfed in flames and smoke early Wednesday, authorities said.
Jermaine Shirley, 30, a third-floor resident who delivers mail in Greenwich, Conn., first made sure his wife and child got out safely after he smelled smoke and discovered the blaze about 7 a.m. at 870 E. 220th St. in Williamsbridge.
He then climbed to the roof of an attached shed to the rear of the building, where he saw panicked dad Everdean Codner, 32, on a third-floor fire escape with the twin, 11-month old boys, Israel and Ishmeal Codner.
“I was ready to catch. One of them, he kind of flipped a little because he was in a full ‘onesie’ suit, but I catch him,” Shirley said.
The father then tossed the second infant down and the sure-handed letter carrier made another life-saving catch.
“They dropped the babies down and I catch them. I just thank God that everyone is safe – my wife and kid – everyone is safe. I would want everyone to do the same for me,” Shirley said.
After catching the twins, Shirley dropped both of the babies to Codner’s nephew, who had already escaped the blaze and was on the ground.
After dropping the kids, the lucky dad then had to jump from the fire escape to the roof of the shed and climb to the ground to save himself.
Grateful dad Codner couldn’t thank his neighbor enough.
“I thank Jermaine for saving my babies. Now I have a second chance to be a father to my sons,” said Codner, who described a terrifying scene as the fire filled the building with smoke.
“The smoke was heavy, it pushed us back inside. I wanted to get my babies out and I ran to the fire escape. I just dropped them. Thank God they are okay,” he said.
Three people suffered minor injuries in the fire at the six-family, three-story apartment house, including two children, though the infants were not injured.
Dozens of firefighters had the blaze under control by 7:49 a.m.
