A sailor assigned to a nuclear submarine scaled the wall of a burning building to save an entrapped woman Tuesday, an act caught on video.
Nuclear Technician Petty Officer 1st Class Gabriel Nagy-Journey, a sailor assigned to the USS Albany in Norfolk, was driving home from work when he heard a woman screaming about a fire in the nearby apartment building in Norfolk, Virginia.
He joined a group standing next to the burning apartment building, just beneath where an elderly woman was leaning out of a second-story window, with smoke billowing out.
Within seconds, Journey was boosted by two others up the wall, where he balanced on a row of bricks that created enough of a ledge to stand on and where he could reach the woman.
“We were gonna have her jump, but she was too scared. I got up there and pulled her out of the window,” Journey told WAVY News in an interview at the scene.
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A video posted to Facebook page Paige Vs Dip shows Journey pulling the woman out despite flames and thick smoke billowing from the nearby windows.
Journey is a nuclear technician on the Albany and credited Navy training for his quick actions.
“It’s kind of what I train to at work on a daily basis, so the number one priority was getting as many people out as quickly as possible,” Journey told the TV station.
The Albany is a Los Angeles-class attack sub-launched in 1987 and commissioned in 1990. The ship is based in Norfolk.
The two-alarm fire injured 2 and displaced 32 residents, WAVY reported. The call was first reported to emergency services at 2:10 p.m.