MANVILLE: Man in 80s resuscitated after being pulled from fire

    An elderly man was pulled unconscious from a house fire on May Place at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 19, and resuscitated by two police officers who gave CPR.
    The lone occupant, Martin Sawicki, who is in his early 80s, was evacuated by the North Star medical helicopter, which landed at the Lincoln Avenue fields and flew the patient to St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston, widely recognized as the best regional facility to handle burn trauma patients.
       Fire Marshal Patrick Renaldi said two police officers, Lt. Thomas Herbst and Officer Michael Peterson, were first on the scene. They were in the smoky house when Mr. Renaldi arrived, he said, when Officer Peterson said he saw the silhouette of the man in a chair in the living room.
    The three men carried the victim through the cluttered house and onto the street. He wasn’t breathing, and Lt. Herbst and Officer Peterson gave him CPR and oxygen for several minutes until emergency squads arrived, said the fire marshal.
      Mr. Renaldi said first indications were that the source of the fire was an electronic device plugged in the bathroom. It was so badly melted that Mr. Renaldi said they hadn’t figured out what it was.
       All three Manville fire companies responded, as did companies from Finderne, Somerville and Hillsborough Fire Company No. 2’s tower truck. Firefighters knocked down the fire, which had begun to spread into the attic, in about 20 to 25 minutes, Mr. Renaldi said.