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7/24/2010 BY GENEVIEVE REILLY

Connecticut Post, Bridgeport

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. — Lt. Steven Velazquez and Firefighter Michel Baik were on the $\"Angel_and_fireman_by_paperdragon1967\"$ third-floor of the wood-frame home at 41 Elmwood Ave., checking for hot spots and making sure there were no people in the smoldering blaze. Then trouble hit. The two sent mayday signals back to dispatch. Within minutes, the fire department\’s rapid intervention team found the pair on the floor, unconscious, and gave them CPR. The two men could not be revived. Hours later, a somber Mayor Bill Finch at a news conference talked about the two, both family men with young children. Velazquez was Finch\’s neighbor, and the mayor recalled pinning his badge on him when he was promoted to lieutenant in February. Baik, he said, was a rookie with two years on the job.