Carbon Street neighbors describe initial chaos and efforts to save victims

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Fran Marinelli was at home with her family when they heard a big boom, thinking someone had driven into the side of their house. When they ran outside to see what happened, they couldn’t believe what they witnessed.

“I saw a puff of smoke, which I thought was my friend Candy,” Martinelli said. “I thought it was her house, so everybody ran. They were already running, and then I went outside, and when we got down there it was complete chaos.”

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She saw her other neighbors starting to pull people from the collapsed home who were badly hurt. She could only recognize one person who lived at the home.

“His hair was all singed. Everybody was burnt really bad. It was really bad,” she said. “Everybody that could help, did help. The poor paramedic was running around trying to triage everybody.”

Fran wasn’t the only one that wanted to help. Her grandson who is home on leave also sprang into action to help those trapped under the rubble.”

“One girl was knocked out, so I checked her pulse, and she didn’t wake up, so I gave her a sternum rub and she woke up. She’s fine,” Anthony Baron, Marinelli’s grandson, said.

Anthony used his knowledge of what he’s learned in the military to help as many people as he could.

“The little boy, the little girl, I brought them up to the ambulance myself,” Baron said. “I tried creating a little triage area because there were seven or eight people still there.”

EMS crews then took over, relieving neighbors of their duties.

“The neighbors that were there really tried to pitch in, tried to help as much as they possibly could,” Martinelli said.

It takes a village, or, in this case, just one street.

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