Two North Texas police officers are being hailed as heroes after they saved a family from a late-night house fire. NBC 5’s Jack Highberger reports.
Two North Texas police officers are being hailed as heroes after they saved a family from a late-night house fire.
The Lake Worth Police Department said officers Myers and Valdez were "in the right place at the right time" when they noticed flames shooting from the roof of a home shortly before 1 a.m. Monday.
“It’s instinct, it’s just go, you know," Ofc. Christian Myers said. “Our thought was to get this family out and safe."
Video captured on the officers' body cameras showed the two knocking on the home's doors and windows in an effort to wake those inside. Shortly after, the officers made it inside the house before safely evacuating two adults, two children and a dog.
“It feels so much better not having to do a death notification," said Ofc. Antonia Valdez, in reference to the worst-case scenario first responders often encounter. "It just feels amazing."
Firefighters from Lake Worth and Fort Worth put out the fire and tended to the displaced family.
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No one was hurt.
“We do a lot of things in this profession, we arrest people that break the law, get drugs off the street. But saving lives, nothing compares to that or comes close," Myers said.
Lake Worth police Chief J.T. Manoushagian said he believes the officers actions likely saved multiple lives.
“I spoke to the family this morning and they seem to think their smoke detectors weren’t working, so I can only imagine this would not have ended well," Manoushagian said.
