Virginia Police Officers Honored for Daring Rescue from Burning Home

Four Culpeper, Virginia, police officers have been recognized for their bravery after entering a burning building to rescue a man trapped inside. The officers, responding to reports of a fire on the evening of Oct. 3, were informed by residents that one man had not evacuated the structure.

Body-worn camera footage shows officers Ashley Sain and Neal Coffey entering the home without protective gear. They proceeded to the second floor, where they encountered heavy smoke and a locked door. After Sain shouted for anyone inside, Coffey forced the door open. He and Sain, later joined by Sgt. David Cole and Officer Michael Beel, crawled through the thick smoke.

Coffey located an unresponsive man on a bed and, with the assistance of Beel, they dragged the man into the hallway. A firefighter then arrived and carried the rescued resident out of the building, after which the fire was extinguished. The rescued man was transported to a hospital and then transferred to a regional burn center.

Three of the four officers were treated at a hospital for smoke inhalation and other injuries and were released that same evening. The investigation into the cause of the fire and the identity of the rescued resident are ongoing.

On Oct. 14, Capt. Kevin Tooley of the Culpeper Police Department announced that all four officers were awarded valor awards for their actions. "They went above and beyond the normal call for a police department," Tooley stated. "We normally don't go into burning buildings. I mean, that's not our job. That's typically the fire department's job. But we don't know how to say no, especially when there's a life… that we know we have to save."