Public Employee Press

Members to the rescue in Harlem gas explosion

By DIANE S. WILLIAMS

East Harlem's streets bustled on the morning of March 12 - a typical Wednesday with neighborhood folks rushing to jobs, school and local shops - until 9:31, when two five-story buildings blew up and collapsed on Park Avenue between 116th and 117th streets, suddenly shattering normality and hundreds of lives.

Experts said it was a gas explosion from a leaky 127-year-old underground pipe that leveled 1644 Park Ave., a century-old tenement that housed a church, and 1646 Park Ave., home to a piano store with rental apartments above.

The enormous explosion shot flames high above the wreckage and spit massive dust clouds and thick smoke into the air. Chaos ensued as survivors wandered the streets dazed, not knowing what had happened. The blast claimed the lives of eight and injured 70.

Residents from surrounding buildings evacuated their apartments and local businesses closed as first responders and public service workers, members of District Council 37 and other municipal unions, rushed to the scene. Construction workers and good Samaritans like Stephan Aran (see page 14) aided the injured and ran towards unknown danger to help as fires leapt from the rubble.

"I didn't know if there would be another explosion, if it was a bomb or what, I just wanted to help," said Aran, an off-duty Emergency Medical Tech who arrived before Police, Firefighters and other Emergency Medical Service workers.

Members of numerous DC 37 locals played essential roles in New York City's response to the disaster.

Special EMS units that raced to the site included a Haz-Mat Battalion trained in building collapse and rescue, the Major Emergency Response Vehicle, whose crew can care for and transport 20 patients, and a Logistical Services Unit, said Uniformed EMS Officers Local 3621 President Vincent Variale.

Search and rescue

EMTs in Local 2507 and their supervisors in Local 3621 from Stations 16 and 13 helped Firefighters search for victims, "clawing through the charred rubble by hand to protect any possible survivors buried alive," Variale said. The buildings collapsed, floor onto floor, stacked like pancakes. One lucky survivor's life was spared as he huddled beneath a mass of pianos. Responders set up makeshift triage stations at Park Avenue and 117th and 115th streets, treated the victims and took them to hospitals. Their rescue efforts spanned several days.

Therapists in Locals 299 and 768 and Local 420 members at Harlem, Metropolitan and Bellevue hospitals, treated burn and injury victims, and Mortuary Techs carried out the dead to be identified at the city morgue.

At the 911 Emergency Call Center, "more calls came in than our system could handle," said Local 1549 Chapter Chair John Armstrong. Some callers told the 911 operators there was an explosion, while others reported a building collapse.

"It was almost like reliving 9/11. At first, no one knew what the problem was," said Armstrong. "People wanted to know what happened - Was it terrorism? How were their loved ones?" Within an hour, "It was an emergency operation that we are prepared to handle," he added.

The Police Dept. ordered dozens of Traffic Enforcement Agents in Local 983 to remove vehicles in a three-block radius to allow emergency vehicles access. Some cars were parked, while others waiting in traffic were damaged as debris rained down.

Dedicated tow truck operators were among the first to respond, Local 983 President Joe Puleo said. Unlike Police and Firefighters, the TEAs were not equipped with masks and protective gear; still they did their job, removing hundreds of vehicles.

DC 37 members in locals 371, 375 and 1549 from the Human Resources Administration, the Housing Preservation Dept., the Office of Emergency Management, the Dept. of Homeless Services and other city agencies were on the frontlines in the East Harlem community, providing emergency services and housing for displaced residents and offering grief counseling and other support services for victims and survivors.

Ready responders

Workers from a Health Dept. building at 115th Street and Park Avenue - including Public Health Nurses in Local 436 who monitor new mothers and their babies - were evacuated and relocated temporarily to the Bronx. A week later they returned to a department site in Harlem.

HPD sent workers to the disaster area to seal buildings and prevent further damage. They checked for code violations and enforcement. Later, Buildings Inspectors gave the OK to return essential services and reoccupy the neighborhood.

John Rojas, an HPD Construction Project Manager in Civil Service Technical Guild Local 375, arrived as a volunteer with his Upper West Side Citizens Emergency Response Team, whose members worked at the site several hours a day for six to seven days.

"For a three-block radius, it looked like a war zone," said Rojas. "There were no basic services like gas, electric and water. People needed food and clothing. Children needed to be bused from temporary shelters to their schools. Windows had to been replaced, businesses lost money. This was a severe blow to this community."

Rojas, who is bilingual, registered families made homeless by the explosion. Dozens of volunteers from the CERTs, which were established after 9/11, "expedited processing victims to alleviate some of their grief and stress. For some it was overwhelming," he said.

On his first day, Rojas saw 75 families; in two days he helped 133 families.

"I feel compassion for them. I asked what they needed, and some just broke down because they lost everything. We were there to comfort them and provide the services they needed," he said.

"Ninety percent of those I saw are Spanish-speaking families and small businesses that lost so much," said Rojas. "The Buildings Department, Con Ed, the Red Cross, the ASPCA - anyone who could help was there. Church groups helped get families into shelters and gave out vouchers for food and clothing, and there were grief counselors for those who lost loved ones."

Mayor de Blasio and local City Council members honored Rojas and other volunteers March 20 at the nearby Taino Towers. By mid-April about 60 percent of the clean-up, repairs and restoration had been completed.

Co-worker Adam Gawronski called Rojas "a fine example of what public servants are - a great inspiration for me and numerous others who have now completed CERT training to contribute to their communities."