Watch Mich. Police Save Elderly Couple from Cluttered, Burning Home
Four Michigan police officers broke through the door of a burning house early Wednesday to save a couple in their 70s still inside.
The rescue happened at about 1 a.m. when Plymouth Township police officers were the first on the scene of a residential fire, WXYZ-TV reports. Once at the home, a sergeant who had been a college football player, lowered his shoulder to break open the door.
Smoke poured from the house, and four officers took turns to search for people inside. Body camera footage from the officers captured not only the fire but also the severe hoarding inside the home.
"There was a lot of clutter near the front door," Police Chief James Knittel told the news outlet. "Made it very difficult for our first responders to get in.”
In order to reach the elderly man and woman, an officer needed to move a heavy grandfather clock out of the way. The man told police he couldn't walk, and an officer told him to crawl.
Once the man was pulled to safety, officers began searching for his wife. She was located in the clutter and rescued.
“Seeing them work as a team and accomplish a goal like that, saving two of our citizens, I think is just fantastic,” said Knittel. "I was just blown away. These officers put their lives at risk for these residents — all four of them at different times.”
"When I was watching the body camera footage, it brought a tear to my eye," he added. "We come to work every single day as police officers, we take an oath, raise our right hand, protect and serve. And for those officers to save those peoples lives, our residents, I couldn't be more proud.”
