Woodhaven’s Hero
Nineteen years ago today, the world lost Jimmy Young.
Jimmy was a New York City firefighter and a son of Woodhaven. He died a hero.
On Mar. 28, 1994, around 7:30 p.m., firefighters were dispatched to 62 Watts St., a three-story apartment building near Canal Street in Manhattan.
Firefighter James F. Young, 31, was among the firefighters who entered the building to look for anyone inside. It turns out all the residents had already left.
Jimmy and Firefighter Christopher J. Siedenburg, of Engine Co. 24, and Capt. John J. Drennan, of Ladder Co. 5, were in a hallway on the second floor of the building when flames blew out the door of a first-floor apartment and traveled upward, engulfing the three men.
They were the victims of a flashover, an occurrence widely feared by firefighters. Flashovers happen when gases in an enclosed area are ignited and explode into flames. It’s believed the blaze started when trash that accumulated on a gas stove in the first-floor apartment caught fire.
More than a hundred firefighters responded to the two-alarm inferno. Many on the scene removed their helmets and placed them over their hearts as Young, Siedenburg, and Drennan were carried from the building.
Jimmy died immediately. His two comrades were brought to the burn unit at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. Siedenburg died the next day and Drennan died six weeks later.
Jimmy, who comes from a family of New York’s Bravest, had joined the department in 1990. He was beloved in Woodhaven. He had been baptized and confirmed at St. Thomas the Apostle Church. He was an owner of a video store on Jamaica Avenue.
An estimated 10,000 firefighters from across New York and even from other states came to Woodhaven for Jimmy’s funeral services at St. Thomas.
I was just 10 years old at the time, but I remember that day vividly. It was gorgeous and sunny. My parents and I made the 15-minute walk toward St. Thomas, where I was a student and altar boy. We lived halfway across Woodhaven, but there were vehicles from fire departments parked on our block, and every block on the way to the church.
I didn’t know Jimmy personally but I had already understood a tragedy hit our neighborhood. As we passed one fire vehicle after another- from upstate, from Connecticut- my young mind began to comprehend the magnitude of the tragedy.
We didn’t even get close to the church because there were so many people-including more firefighters than I ever knew even existed-there to pay their respects. It was a humbling, profoundly sad experience. It was one of the defining memories of my childhood in Woodhaven: so many people, more than one community’s worth of people, together in mourning.
There are still many reminders of Jimmy, even for those who never had the good fortune to meet him. The city named 87th Street south of Jamaica Avenue-where so many friends, family and firefighters had gathered to mourn him-Jimmy Young Place. A few years ago, the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association and St. Thomas commemorated him in a gathering outside the church. A Facebook group called “In Memory of Jimmy Young” has over 500 members and features so many fond memories of Jimmy.
Everyone in this neighborhood, even newcomers, should know who Jimmy Young is. And today, almost two decades after that terrible loss, we should all take a moment to remember him, a Woodhaven resident who made the supreme sacrifice. Jimmy will forever be an enormous part of this community.
Editor’s note: Blenkinsopp is member of Community Board 9 and director of communications for the Woodhaven Residents’ Block Association. For more information on the WRBA, visit www.woodhavennyc.org.
