Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D) is known for taking constituent services seriously. He has, for example, taken it upon himself to shovel driveways after snowstorms.
But when it comes to public officials looking out for their neighbors, there are constituent services and then there are constituent services (thanks to reader V.S. for the tip).
Newark Mayor Cory Booker was taken to a hospital tonight for treatment of smoke inhalation he suffered trying to rescue his next-door neighbors from their burning house.
“I just grabbed her and whipped her out of the bed,” Booker said in recounting the fire. Booker told The Star-Ledger he also suffered second-degree burns on his hand. […]
Newark Fire Director Fateen Ziyad said after the mayor arrived home he saw flames and smoke from the second floor of the building next to his home, and no residents outside, Booker rushed in and his security detail followed him, Ziyad said.
Rumors that the mayor’s cape was temporarily visible to onlookers remain unconfirmed.
The neighbor was reportedly in stable condition, and Booker and his detail were “banged up,” but will be fine. Other residents of the building were unharmed.
The mayor’s story, however, still sounds like something out of an action movie.
“We got everybody out of the house, but their daughter’s screaming, ‘I’m upstairs!’ ” he told The Star-Ledger… Booker said when he reached the second floor, he was engulfed in flames and smoke.
“I suddenly had the realization that I can’t find this woman.” Booker said. “I look behind me and see the flames and I think “I’m not going to get out of here. Suddenly I was at peace with the fact that I was going to jump out the window.”
Then he heard her cries in a back bedroom. “I just grabbed her and whipped her out of the bed,” Booker said. The two made their way downstairs, where they both collapsed, Booker said.
Speculation in New Jersey political circles is that it’s only a matter of time before Booker seeks statewide office. A politician who can put “saves people from burning buildings” on his resume may have a slight edge over potential competitors.
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