FDNY Fire Captain Killed in Floor Collapse at Brooklyn Rest…

Vehicle Fire New York City New York in New York City, New York: On June 27, 1961, FDNY Fire Captain Walter Bersig of Ladder 149 was killed during an early-morning three-alarm fire at the White Shutter Restaurant, a one-story building at 7509 Third Avenue in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Sensing the masonry terrazzo floor was weakening, Captain Bersig ordered his men out of the building, but he was caught in the collapse and hurled into the water-filled cellar below. After about 15 minutes of rescue attempts, he was found in several feet of water and rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The coroner ruled he died from smoke inhalation, multiple injuries, and submersion, and the cause of the fire was undetermined.