Staten Island plumber helps save residents from burning building in Harlem, report says

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A plumber and Oakwood Beach resident on the job in Harlem sprung into action Tuesday when he raced into a burning apartment building and rescued an octogenarian woman, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

Anthony Titulli, 43, and his team from Village Plumbing and Heating were installing a sprinkler system down the block when he saw flames coming out of the Frederick Douglas Boulevard building, located near W. 139 street and raced inside, according to the report.

He told the woman "hold on, you're going for a ride," picked her up in his arms like a child and carried her outside the building to safety, the News reported

The incident occurred at about 9:15 a.m. and left a minimum of at least 17 of the building's residents homeless.

"I feel bad that it's Thanksgiving and they're out of their homes," Tatulli told the News. "That's what bothers me. I'm going to have dinner with my family and some of these people won't have a home to return to."

When reached at home by the Advance, Titulli was modest about his heroics.

"I was coming out from a project," Titulli said. "We dialed 911 on my phone and me and a couple of employees went inside. The building was pretty much full of smoke."

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Staten Island plumber helps save residents from burning building in Harlem, report says