Police Rescue Disabled Man From House Fire

FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - Three police officers rushed into a burning Fort Worth home early Wednesday morning and rescued a man in a wheelchair, who suffered only minor injuries as a result. The incident happened at around 1:00 a.m. in the 900 block of Churchill Road.

The three officers from the River Oaks Police Department responded to a 911 call and went inside of the burning structure after family members on the outside said that they could not get the disabled man out safely. The officers ran into smoke and flames, and found the man in a bedroom. They lifted him off of the bed and pushed him out of a side window.

Officer Timothy Whitley was cut by the window glass and had to go to a nearby hospital. He has since been treated and released. "It was almost to the point where it was unbearable," Whitley said about the heat. "You couldn't keep your head inside the window for more than probably five or six seconds. I entered through one of the windows and picked up his legs and we got him the rest of the way. The other two officers pulled on him from the other side."

"It was a rush," recalled Sgt. Steve Nance, another one of the three officers who saved the man. "We're glad we got him out. All the officers did what they had to do to get him out before it got any worse."

The disabled 66-year-old man was also sent to a nearby hospital due to smoke inhalation and minor burns. Three other people who were inside of the burning home -- the disabled man's son, daughter and 9-month-old grandchild -- all escaped the flames without injury. Their home, however, has been gutted.

Justin Sauer is the son of the rescued man. "Without the help of the officers, I don't want to imagine what would've happened," he said Wednesday morning. "It would've been way worse. But everybody got saved, that's the main thing. Everything else can be rebuilt, human life can't."

The cause of the fire is now under investigation.

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