Officer drags teen out of home (and is thanked!)

[TheeBadOne]

Officer Saves Boy From Village Apartment Fire

After a boy was rescued from a burning apartment Tuesday in The Village, officials credited a quick-thinking police officer for saving the boy's life.

Firefighters, police officers and paramedics responded to a 911 call Tuesday morning from the Vintage Lakes Apartments. Officer Ron Morrow, 47, arrived at the scene first and rushed into a smoke-filled apartment to rescue the child. The victim's family met the officer in front of the burning apartment and told him the boy was still inside. Morrow said the boy's verbal signals helped him navigate thick smoke.

"The flames weren't too big, yet it was just hard to find him through the smoke," Morrow said. "Good thing he kept yelling so I could find him."

Morrow said he followed the screams up a flight of stairs into a smoky bedroom, where he rescued the child.

"I actually found the child in a closet, which is where the fire was," he said. "I grabbed hold of him and brought him outside. The fire department showed up shortly thereafter."

The boy was given oxygen after he breathed in a large amount of smoke. Paramedics said he was expected to recover swiftly.

Deputy Fire Chief Randy Neal said that if Morrow had waited for firefighters, the boy would have almost certainly died.

"By the time we got in there, it was fully involved," Neal said. "Chances are, the kid wouldn't be alive right now if it wasn't for Officer Morrow."

Morrow, a 2½-year veteran of his police force, remained modest and downplayed his role in the rescue.

"I think I didn't do anything anybody else wouldn't have done," he said.

Police officers in The Village are trained to avoid running into a burning building. However, Morrow said that he felt he could make it inside and escape safely.




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