A police officer in Texas is being commended for his quick act of bravery after running into a burning home on Saturday morning to save a family from the flames.
Body cam footage released over the weekend shows officer Sam Click patrolling the area when he finds a garage engulfed in flames. The garage is part of a duplex in Seagoville, Texas, and Click said the fire was moving towards the home.
A man and his five young children were asleep inside the home.
Within seconds, Click is seen on video entering the home.
“I’ve got people inside who are trapped,” Click can be heard saying on his radio prior to entering.
Another person can then be seen screaming to “get outside” at those inside, before running into the building.
READ MORE: Men trapped in Toronto elevator during flash flood ‘prayed,’ vowed to get out ‘no matter what’
NBC-affiliate DFW 5 reports neighbour Shelby Hood was outside screaming for the family to wake up when Click initially arrived. She said she had also woken up Jeremy Giblaint, who lived next door in the unit attached to the burning duplex. He is the man’s brother-in-law.
He quickly broke in through the back door.
Click followed after Giblaint and body cam footage showed Click waking up the dad, before he and the brother-in-law ran into another bedroom and picked up the rest of the children.
“The fire department, they were minutes away and I don’t think we had minutes,” Click told NBC 5.
The video then switches to outside where some of the children can be seen running on the grass, with some crying.
Afterwards, Click told CBS-affiliate DFW
Giblaint told NBC the experience was frightening.
“I mean I keep looking at it,” he said. “Keep replaying everything in my mind and I realized just how close we were to losing everything and losing family.”
WATCH: Man trapped in elevator after heavy Toronto rainfall recounts ordeal and thanks police
Seagoville police Chief Ray Calverley told Global News he was proud to work with the officer.
“In every sense of the word he is a true hero.”
Calverley said Click, however, is humbled by the incident, but he says what the officer did is “beyond words.”
“He is an outstanding person and I’m honoured to work with him,” he said.
He added that Click says he was in the right place at the right time.
The family is staying with relatives, according to CBS. Authorities are still investigating the cause of the fire.
Comments