POUGHKEEPSIE – A mother and her infant child were rescued by Poughkeepsie firefighters Saturday night after a staircase they were on collapsed and sent them plummeting to the basement of an apartment building. The incident occurred at just before 9:30 p.m.
Fire Chief Mark Johnson told Mid-Hudson News that his department responded to an apartment complex at 31 Forbus Street after City 911 dispatchers received a report of a stair collapse in one of the buildings. The dispatcher advised the first responders that a 17-year-old woman and her one-year-old child had fallen through a staircase and landed in the basement of the building.
Firefighters from Engine 3 and Tower Ladder 2 worked to extricate the patients. The mother was treated for a possible broken leg and transported to a local hospital along with her daughter, who had sustained minor injuries.
Two Poughkeepsie firefighters suffered possible back injuries during the rescue and were transported to MidHudson Regional Hospital for further evaluation.
The City of Poughkeepsie Building Department was summoned to the scene to determine the cause of the collapse.
