FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – A dramatic rescue was caught on video just after flames broke out at Country Glen Condos in Farmington Hills.
Farmington Hills Fire Department is still working on getting to the bottom of what caused the fire Sunday (March 12) morning.
We’re now seeing what happened inside the building before the fire department arrived.
“We had one sergeant, and I believe it was up to eight officers that were on the scene,” said Farmington Hills police Chief Jeff King.
Farmington Hills police officers made it to Country Glen Condos after the flames broke out. Their main goal was to evacuate everyone inside when every second matters.
“They had to do their due diligence, and they had to check systematically to every apartment because they weren’t getting a lot of response,” King said.
King walked Local 4 through the body cam video of some of the dramatic rescues. One by one, officers checked every unit to ensure everyone was fine, and through captured videos of the scene, you could see people were still inside.
“The fire started or was located in the third-floor roof and was working its way down,” King said. “So the team of officers separated and started systematically working their way up from the ground floor to the third floor.”
In one room, a scared dog was carefully picked up by an officer and taken to safety after its owners begged officials to go back for the rescue.
“To have officers reenter that hostile environment, that dangerous environment to try to get that animal out,” King said. “Just nothing but pride for our department.”
King believes his officers’ actions saved lives.
“Our officers were able to step up, put their own safety aside, and get in and try to save as many of the individuals as possible,” King said.
Five officers had trouble breathing and had to be checked out for smoke inhalation. But once again, it’s a miracle that no one was hurt.
