By TOM CARDINALE
In all his years as a firefighter, Capt. Brian Wheary of the Asbury Park Fire Department says he’s never had a rescue like the one that took place at Munroe Towers last week.Wheary was among the first firefighters to respond and, along with firefighter Mike O’Gara, was the first to enter the burning apartment. The two pulled resident Sunovia Williams out of her smoke-filled home.
Wheary, O’Gara, and firefighters Gregg Arce and Robert Pasquariello were the first on the scene when the call first came in. Once they had arrived and surveyed the situation, Wheary says the four caught the elevator, which was still operational and took it to the 12th floor.
They then proceeded, using the stairs, to the 13th floor, where Arce and Pasquariello hooked a line into the building’s stand pipe as he and O’Gara proceeded to the 14th floor.
“Myself and O’Gara forced entry into apartment 14T with a hydrolic ram,” Wheary said. “We then began a primary search. Once we entered the door we encountered thick, black, dense smoke. Visibility was zero.” (more…)