A New York Corrections Officer lost his teenage daughter and son in a devastating house fire while he was working the night shift early Wednesday morning. Officer Gregory Toone was on duty when the blaze erupted at around 2:30 a.m. on Sherwood Road in Cortlandt Manor.
The Fire and Rescue Efforts
By the time firefighters arrived, heavy flames were consuming the two-story house, according to ABC 7. An older son who slept downstairs managed to get his mother out, but teenagers Alina, 17, and Jeremiah, 15, were trapped upstairs in their bedrooms. Firefighters had to use ladders to reach the second story and break through windows to rescue the teens, as reported by Lohud.
Lake Mohegan Fire District Chief Thomas Eade described the scene: 'I had two members in one bedroom, two members in the next bedroom, they worked their tails off to get these individuals out from the ground ladder, out of the window onto the floor where they're both found pulseless and not breathing.'
The teens received CPR at the scene before being transported to a local hospital, where they succumbed to their injuries. 'CPR was immediately initiated,' Eade told NBC New York. 'That was challenging, because there was fire being blown from three floors of the house and now two patients in cardiac arrest.' He added that crews made a valiant effort, but one teenage female passed away, and Jeremiah was later pronounced dead.
Family Injuries and Investigation
The mother, Yenny, was taken to the hospital in stable condition, and the older brother was discharged after recovering, according to News 12 Westchester. An investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing, but officials believe it was sparked by an overloaded extension cord or power strip.
Westchester County District Attorney Susan Cacace expressed her heartbreak, stating, 'This catastrophic incident is every parent's worst nightmare.' She extended thoughts to Officer Toone and his family, praying for the recovery of his wife. Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins noted that the loss hits especially close to home as the father is a county correction officer.
Community Support
An online fundraiser has been set up to help the family cover funeral expenses, temporary housing, and other costs. As of Sunday night, it had raised nearly $190,000. Flowers and stuffed animals were left on the family's burnt-out porch as a tribute to the young lives lost.
