After Fall, Firefighter is FDNY's Luckiest

A firefighter who cheated death when a third-floor porch collapsed beneath his feet during a massive Brooklyn blaze says he's "glad to be alive."

"It was like a whirlpool sucked me in," said firefighter Andrew Sheirer, 26, who suffered shoulder injuries when he fell three stories from a burning Bensonhurst building last Tuesday.

"No one could save me, it happened so fast," he told The Post.

Sheirer, 26, a three-year veteran of Ladder 148 in Borough Park, was assigned to clean up pockets of fire on the third floor of the building at 222 Kings Highway when the rear porch and part of the rear wall collapsed.

The commercial building housed a sports memorabilia and comic-book store.

"We had to remove a large amount of debris from the third floor," said Sheirer, who was released from Coney Island Hospital in time to celebrate New Year's Eve.

"I checked the balcony to make sure it was good, but didn't hear any creaking or any noises to indicate it was weak."

Suddenly the landing gave way, sending him plummeting through another deck and onto a pile of rubble below.

Officials said he cheated death by staying on top of the pile as it fell.

"After I landed, I opened my eyes and realized that I was still alive," Sheirer said. "It was the longest couple of seconds of my life."

Sheirer, a Brooklyn native who lives in the Richmond Town section of Staten Island, freed himself from under the debris and crawled out on his hands and knees covering his head until he reached a set of stairs in the cellar.

A mayday call sounded and many of the more than 100 firefighters who were battling the blaze rushed into the building to carry their comrade to safety.

Sheirer's fellow firefighters later told him that it was a good thing that he moved when he did because more bricks fell and would have ended up on top of him.

Eight civilians also suffered minor injuries.

Sheirer's father, Richard, a former fire dispatcher, rose to serve as the head of the Office of Emergency Management under Mayor Giuliani. Sheirer said his dad inspired him to join the department.

"I knew it was natural to become a firefighter," Sheirer said. He chalks up his fate to "part training, part basic instinct, or even a divine intervention."

"I'm bruised up with no broken bones," Sheirer said. "I thank God, and I'm glad to be alive."

Republished with permission of The New York Post.