Cop Rushes Into Burning Home to Save Family

A Chattanooga police officer who isn't trained in firefighting rushed into a burning home to save a family, police say. The Chattanooga Police Department says Officer Rogers arrived at a burning two-story house on May 1 before firefighters got there, Fox News reports. The officer found flames tearing through the front door, walls, and into the attic, police said. Neighbors told him people were trapped inside; bodycam video shows him rushing in. Police say Rogers helped a woman and her two children escape, then grabbed a fire extinguisher to knock back flames on the porch.

WTVC identifies the family as Rachel Blaylock and her kids, 4-year-old daughter Marlowe and 10-year-old son Charles. Blaylock says she had no idea how she'd manage two children down the stairs when Rogers picked up Marlowe and headed out. She followed with Charles. Blaylock says Rogers was willing to go back into the burning building, but she told him no one else was there. "I tried to thank him that night, and he's just shrugging it off, like it's just another day at work, but that's my little daughter," she says. "Police are not trained in firefighting, but they do take an oath to serve and protect," the department said on Facebook, thanking Rogers for his "bravery and dedication to serving our community."