WATCH: Police officer wearing body camera saves woman from fire

TORONTO – A Florida police officer’s quick thinking may have saved a woman’s life during a house fire in Holiday, Florida this past Monday.

And because he was wearing a body camera, viewers can get a first-person perspective of his dramatic rescue.

Deputy James Collins had only been with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office for two weeks when he responded to a fire call Monday night in Holiday’s Beach Square neighbourhood.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office had recently been equipped with shoulder-mounted “body cameras”, which allows us to see exactly what Deputy Collins sees as he enters the burning building.

Immediately, the smoke is so strong that Collins is forced to crawl on all fours just to move. He speaks to 88-year old June Sickles, who tells him that her daughter, Sharon, is somewhere inside the burning house.

“I got down low so that I could see. Once I got inside, she couldn’t tell us which direction to go, and then I just couldn’t breathe anymore and I had to back out,” Collins told WFLA News in Tampa, Florida.

As other deputies and firefighters arrive on the scene, Collins tells them the smoke inside the house is too thick for him to enter.

But there’s still the matter of the woman trapped inside the burning building. With time running out, Collins breaks a side window in the home and calls out for Sharon.

Incredibly, they are able to pull the woman out of the smoke-filled home and away to safety.

Both mother and daughter were unhurt in the fire. Officer Collins was taken to an area hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation, but was later released.

Collins’ fellow officers believe this is a good example of how a body camera can help the public understand the dangers a police officer or first responder can face.