VIDEO: A nearly century-old act of bravery is bringing two families together and shining a spotlight on a Black trailblazer whose legacy continues to live on.
On June 20, 1929, a devastating fire tore through a crowded Lower East Side tenement in New York City.
Among the first responders was Wesley Augustus Williams, an FDNY firefighter who would later break barriers as the department’s first Black firefighter to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant, at a time when many did not want him there.
Historic newspaper accounts show Williams rushed into the flames, rescuing around 20 people before collapsing from smoke inhalation.
Among those he saved was a woman and her three children. That woman was Rachel Coffino.
Nearly a century later, Coffino’s granddaughter, Port Orange resident Cathy Guiga, is reflecting on how one man’s heroism shaped her family’s existence.
“I get the chills now just because even now it’s so cool,” she said. ”It’s so amazing that somebody’s heroics saved our whole entire family. None of us would be here.”