Firefighter Heals As Vigil Sends Prayers His Way

Fire Lt. Samod ​“Nuke” Rankins has gotten off his hospital ventilator — and if all the prayers that were uttered Saturday are heard, his progress can only continue.

Rankins was critically injured and hospitalized while responding to an overnight fire Wednesday on Valley Street; he was taken to Bridgeport Hospital’s burn unit and placed in a coma. Another firefighter, Ricardo Torres Jr., died in the fire.

The communal prayers for Rankins came during a vigil held on his behalf outside of the Pitts Chapel Unified Free Will Baptist Church on Brewster Street. Church member Lorise Brown organized the vigil with Mauro-Sheridan Interdistrict Magnet School support staff member Sean Hardy, who has known Rankins and his family for years.

Thirty people gathered for the vigil.

Brown knows Rankins’ mother from Pitts Chapel. ​“I’m here because I am a mother,” she said. ​“I pray that God will open up doors and open up windows and go into Bridgeport Hospital into the burn unit and bless the young man.”

Rankins’ great uncles Bishop Elijah Davis and retired Connecticut Police Captain Joe Davis delivered the update that Rankins is making good progress in the hospital and is now off the ventilator.

“He has come a long way, thank God, but still has a long way to go,” said Bishop Elijah.

A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up to support Rankins in his recovery and the Torres family.

Family and friends prayed for the firefighters’ families and their fire brothers and sisters who are also working through the losses.

With the hands of friends and family on her shoulders, Torres’ mother Cathy Foster-Mendez thanked the community for its support for her son. She described him as a selfless person who was always offering others encouraging words. She recalled him telling his friends and family to ​“be your best” and ​“rise up.”

Since Torres’ death this week, Foster-Mendez, said she and Torres’ wife have gotten visits from members of the NHFD sharing their condolences and personal stories about working with him in the firehouse.

“He was a good man. He loved and cared about everyone,” she said. 

Members of the Flaming Knights motorcycle club passed through the event to show their support for the lost ones’ families; for Rankins, whom they called ​“New Haven’s finest”; and for the fire department.

Rankins’ parents did not attend the vigil, as they were at their son’s side in the hospital.

Firefighter Jacari Santiago, 26, recalled talking to Rankins about ​“taking care of our community.”

Many described Rankins as a natural born leader and community hero.

Retired fire captain and Firebirds Vice President Gary Tinney spoke of his mentor/ mentee relationship with Rankins. (Click here for a recent story about a press conference they helped lead about fire department civil service hiring.)

The night of the Valley street fire, Tinney said, he was woken up to a FaceTime call at 2 a.m from Rankins while on a stretcher. “‘Call my mother!’ he kept yelling at me.”

When Tinney arrived at the scene, he said, he received another call from Rankins, who cried out his mother’s phone number to him while asking him to call her.

“I love him like a son,” he added.

Rankins asked that Tinney pass along the message Saturday that he is grateful for the community’s support and prayers during his recovery.

The two first met when Rankins was first expressing his interest in the fire department. Rankins would often assist the firefighters during a public safety program Tinney ran at Hillhouse. Every since then, when Rankins was recruited in 2018, the two developed a strong bond. 

Tinney encouraged members of the department to not grieve alone. ​“This job takes a toll. It’s stressful. to see others in distress,” he said. ​“Don’t mourn by blaming yourself,;talk it out if you’re feel something.”

“Folks think that we’re more concerned about the fire outside, but it’s about the fire within,” Tinney said.