Behind the Badge
Two Fullerton police officers are recovering from smoke inhalation injuries after they entered a burning home Thursday morning and rescued a woman.
Officers Jeremy Viscusi and Matthew Green were the first to arrive at the home in the 100 block of East Valencia Avenue at around 6 a.m., the Fullerton PD said in a news release.
A man on the front porch told the officers his mother was inside the burning home.
As Fullerton firefighters rushed to the scene, Viscusi and Green entered the home and rescued the elderly woman. Once they were back outside, the woman told the officers she believed her husband still was in the house.
So Viscusi and Green went back inside.
They couldn’t find the man. When they returned outside, they found out he had escaped on his own out a back door.
Viscusi and Green were transported to a local hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation. They are in stable condition.
“The heroic efforts of these two officers prevented this incident from becoming a tragedy,” said Fullerton Police Sgt. Kathryn “Katie” Hamel. “They recognized the gravity of the situation and knew they had to act before firefighters arrived on the scene. We are very proud of them and wish them a speedy recovery.”
In a 911 call released by the Fullerton PD Thursday afternoon, a woman who lives across the street from the home that caught fire tells the dispatcher that three disabled people are in the house.
At one point during the 911 call, the woman goes into the burning house, prompting the dispatcher to tell her it’s not safe.
During the call, the woman appears to be reassuring someone in the house.
“It’s OK, it’s OK, it’s OK,” she can be heard saying. “Come on.”
Seconds laters, police arrive.
No one else was injured in the blaze, whose cause remains under investigation.
Firefighters were able to extinguish the fire, which spread from the home to a shed in the backyard as well as a shed in a neighbor’s backyard.
