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by ROB HART
A mother and her 3-year-old son were hospitalized in critical condition last night after a two-alarm fire gutted their Great Kills home.
Four firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the blaze at 3 Nahant St., which was reported at 8:46 p.m., fire officials said.
The woman and her two children -- the 3-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl -- were inside the house when the fire started.
The mother was burned on roughly 40 percent of her body and the boy suffered smoke inhalation, according to fire officials. The woman and child were not identified.
But further tragedy may have been avoided when retired Firefighter John Rubino of Grant City pulled the toddler from the burning house and administered CPR.
"God pointed me in the right direction," Rubino said afterward, his face stained with soot.
The white, two-story house was gutted and charred last night, and burned furniture and debris littered the front lawn. The fire also blackened the rear of a nearby van.
The four firefighters were treated for various minor injuries at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze, and were expected to be released, a fire official said.
The woman and her son were taken to the same hospital, where they were listed in critical condition.
"I hope the little guy makes it," said one firefighter. "He's just a kid."
According to Chief Tom Giordano of the 23rd Battalion, Great Kills, the fire may have started because the children were playing with candles.
Neighbors said they didn't know the family, which moved in about six months ago and were in the middle of renovating the house.
Next-door neighbor Cindy Brande said she saw the intensity of the blaze, and was shocked to hear that people were still inside.
"I was sitting in my bedroom, and I heard a noise that sounded like metal crashing," she said. "It must have been the windows blowing out. I looked outside and the roof was already on fire."
By 9:22 p.m., when the inferno was brought under control, dozens of onlookers were talking about the retired firefighter who rescued the boy.
Rubino, a 20-year FDNY veteran who retired about a year ago, said he was across the street, watching his son play baseball, when someone told him about the fire.
He saw the home in flames, and called fire dispatch before jumping a tall fence to get to the house. He was trying to find a garden hose to fight the flames, when he heard the young girl screaming outside that her brother was in the house.
She pointed Rubino toward the boy's room, and he got into the house, crawling through thick smoke until he reached the room.
"I felt his leg, so I pulled him toward me, and brought him outside," he said. "[The boy] had some pretty bad smoke inhalation, and he wasn't breathing well, so I gave him mouth to mouth to help him breathe."
Rubino "really stepped up to the plate" with his rescue, a fire official said.
"Retired Firefighter Rubino made a spectacular grab," said Firefighter Paul Iannizzotto, a fire press spokesman. "He went way above and beyond."
A firefighter at Rubino's old station, Engine Co. 164/Ladder Co. 84, Huguenot, who responded to the blaze, also praised the effort.
"He was always a good fireman," the firefighter said. "It still shows."
Also responding to the scene were Engine Co. 162/Ladder Co. 82, Great Kills; Engine Co. 167/Ladder Co. 87, Annadale; Rescue Co. 5, Concord, and Volunteer Fire Engine Co. 1, Richmond.
Advance news reporter Tim Gray contributed to this report.
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