'We did a good job': 5 LMPD officers recognized for saving woman from burning home
Several Louisville Metro police officers are being recognized for their life-saving efforts in rescuing a woman from a burning residence.
The incredible rescue was caught on camera and the video was recently released by the Louisville Metro Police Department, which is now nominating the officers for an award.
The police officers are credited with saving the life of the woman by catching her when she jumped to safety from two stories up. Just minutes later, officials said the house was engulfed in flames and the roof collapsed.
The fire happened just before midnight on Sept. 8 at a home on East Broadway in downtown Louisville. As the home is swallowed up by flames, the video shows the woman crawling to the roof, but she's reluctant to jump.
Officers can be heard telling the woman, "come on, come on," coaxing her to jump to them. The officers on the ground — five of them — knew the clock was ticking.
VIDEO: LMPD rescues woman trapped on 2nd story of burning building downtown
"The roof started caving in, the stairs were falling down," Officer Caleb Broughton said. "There was no way to physically walk up the stairs, or on the roof, or anything."
The fire was hot and spreading so quickly, it would eventually take 30 firefighters 40 minutes to get it under control. But at that moment, there were just those five police officers — one who had been on patrol when he first spotted the flames.
"You see, in Officer Allen's video, he kind of pauses for a moment, stops and then he realizes, 'Oh, there she is.' And then you see him run. We only had like a second to register what was happening and how to act," Officer James Mills said.
There's shouting and pleading, all recorded on video.
"We're the first ones here. There's not enough time for fire to get here to save her. If we don't act now, she could die," Officer Daniel Kaiser said.
Finally, that woman jumps, only to be caught in the cross-section of a make-shift trampoline — the arms of those strangers. She was shaken, but safe and then, the men on the ground, who have a habit of dissecting their calls, take a minute to take in what's just happened.
"That was one run where we all kind of high-five and we were like, '(We) did a good job,'" Mills said. "I don't think we could have done that better."
After all, it was only their third week on the job.
The police department said the woman was checked out by paramedics. The police officers have been nominated for LMPD's life-saving award.