Dramatic body camera video shows police officers rescuing woman, 5 children from burning building
Police officers rescued five children and a woman from a fire in Indiana and the officer's body camera captured the dramatic rescue.
Watch the body camera footage in the video player above
"We had the manpower with a lot of officers working late and people in the area," Officer Josh Nolan with the Madison Police Department said. "The family called quickly, so there was a quick response, and everybody was just a couple blocks away."
Police body camera video shows massive flames consuming an upstairs apartment unit where six people were trapped inside. Five of them were kids ranging in age from 3 years old to 13.
"You see your niece, or you see your child and you take it personal and know that you have to do what it takes to get those kids out," Officer Nichole Midgett said.
Officers Midgett and Nolan were one of several first responders who immediately sprang into action. Amid screams, one by one they caught the children and a grandmother, who were visibly scared as they jumped from second-floor windows.
"If they weren't at the window or making loud noises, the time it would take to locate them, things could have got a lot worse," Nolan said. "The family did an excellent job, they were perfect."
Once everyone was out of the building, Officer Nolan, who has 15 years of firefighter experience, began double duty assisting the fire crew on the scene.
"I started assigning different tasks to people, helped get water supply going, and grabbed an attack line to get the fire knocked down to prevent further damage to the apartment building," he said.
While the officers are being hailed as heroes, they say the true hero is the young girl whose quick thinking led her to break a window, which allowed her and others to escape.
"The girl who took a pillowcase, wrapped her hand and started punching the window out and effortlessly got the kids out and the baby, she's the true hero in this story in my opinion," Midgett said.
The collective acts of bravery led to lives being saved, and for the officers involved, it's a rewarding end they'll never forget.
"I was able to spend some time in the ambulance with them and one of the girls just hugged me and said thank you so much, which for me I will take with me for the rest of my career," Midgett said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
No serious injuries were reported, but some of the victims and an officer sustained minor cuts.