Firefighter Harry Dodge is in fair condition in the burn unit at University Hospital. He and another firefighter were rescued from the roof of a Syracuse home Thursday night.Just yesterday he was listed in serious condition. Meantime, Dodge’s colleague, Richard Barone suffered and was treated for smoke inhalation. The men became trapped on a roof just after 11:30 Thursday night. They were trying to ventilate a burning home on West Colvin Street by cutting holes in the roof.“When they cut the hole, the volume of the smoke blew up where the ladder was,” says Syracuse fire chief John Cowin. That left Barone and Dodge stranded; one was held by a cable, the other clung to a ladder.What made it so hard for the chief and other crews on the scene was that they couldn’t see the men — all they could see were the ladders.

Luckily, both men got down from the roof with help from fellow firefighters.

“It just shows no matter how hard you work, people get killed in this business — luckily for us, that wasn’t the case,” Cowin says.

Barone was treated and released from the hospital, and Dodge is in the burn unit.  Cowin says he’ll likely stay there for a couple of days.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Mayday for Firefighters

For a moment late Thanksgiving night, Syracuse firefighters thought one of their own had fallen through the roof of a burning home.

"You’ve got to come and get us!" a firefighter yelled over his radio. Flames had ripped a hole in the roof under two firefighters. Someone on the scene activated a "mayday" call.

Authorities knew firefighters Richard Barone and Harry Dodge had been on the roof cutting a hole to vent the smoke and gases from the burning building at 610 W. Colvin St., Fire Chief John Cowin said.

But so much smoke poured from the three-story house that no one could see if both men were still up there, the chief said.

District Chief Collin Coogan was leading a crew into the third-floor apartment when the call went out that one of the men had fallen through the roof.

"For a moment there’s a slight bit of panic," Coogan said. But then "you pull it up from the gut" and let experience and training take over, he said.

Coogan said he realized if one of the men had fallen, he would have landed near them. They began looking.

It turned out neither Barone nor Dodge had gone through the roof, but they weren’t safe either. They were trapped by flames that exploded through the roof in front of and behind them, Cowin said.

Dodge, 35, climbed through the flames and back down the ladder on the east side of the house.

But Barone, 51, could not get out of the cable holding him to the roof ladder, so he scampered over the peak of the roof to get away from the flames, Cowin said.

Firefighters on the ground quickly put another 35-foot ladder up on the west side of the house and a roof ladder up to the peak from that side. Firefighter Scott Christopher climbed those ladders, went over the peak of the house and released the cable to free Barone so he could scramble down the ladders to safety, the chief said.

Both Barone and Dodge were taken to University Hospital. Barone was treated for smoke inhalation and released. Dodge was admitted to the burn unit for treatment of smoke inhalation. He was expected to be kept in the hospital for several days to

make sure there was no permanent damage from inhaling the superheated gases to which he was exposed, Cowin said.

None of the residents of the three-apartment dwelling was injured. The blaze began shortly after 11:30 p.m. Thursday. The cause remains under investigation, Cowin said.

Phyllis Coker, a resident of the second-floor apartment, said she and her son, Jamelle, 24, had just gotten home from Thanksgiving dinner when she noticed a bright light out the side window. She discovered the side of the house was engulfed in flames.

There had been no sign of any fire moments earlier when she came in, she said.

Coker said she alerted the neighbor on the third floor, and they fled.

Coogan said the west side of the house was engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived.

While there had been 28 firefighters on the original call, the mayday activation required the dispatch of two more engine companies, one more truck company and a district chief. More than 50 people ended up at the scene.

The incident Thanksgiving night underscores the dangers of firefighting, Cowin said.

"People get hurt and killed in this business," he said.