NY Firefighters Put Out Blaze to Save Man Refusing Rescue

ROME, NY—An Oneida County man was taken to a hospital Sunday after he refused to let firefighters rescue him from an apartment fire, Rome police said.

Shawn Fitzgerald, 40, suffered minor burns to his arm during the fire around noon at the Madison Plaza Apartments, 100 N. Madison St. in the city of Rome, police Lt. Sharon Rood said in a news release.

Rome police and firefighters were called to the apartment complex at 11:57 a.m. for a report of a fire. Police initially responded to help with traffic and crowd control. But as firefighters tried to help Fitzgerald from the balcony of apartment 713, where he lives, ”Fitzgerald resisted the firefighters’ attempts to rescue him,” Rood said in the release.

“After the fire was extinguished and the apartment was safe to enter, Fitzgerald was taken inside the apartment and escorted out of the building by police,” Rood said. “Fitzgerald appeared to be emotionally disturbed.”

AmCare Ambulance took Fitzgerald to a local hospital for a mental health evaluation and medical treatment for minor burns to his arm, police said.

No one else was injured in the fire.

Apartment 713 had extensive fire, smoke and water damage, police and firefighters said. The hallway and several additional apartments also were damaged.

Rome police are continuing to investigate the fire and “criminal charges are possible at the conclusion of the investigation,” Rood said in the release.  

———

©2020 Syracuse Media Group, N.Y.

Visit Syracuse Media Group, N.Y. at www.syracuse.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.