WATCH: Norridge Cops Save Disabled Resident From House Fire
(CBS) -- This is a story about heroic events captured on a police dash camera.
Police in northwest suburban Norridge have posted video on Facebook of officers rescuing a man who almost died in a smoky fire last week.
The July 16 video from Officer Richard Goliebowski's squad car as he drove up shows Auxiliary Officer Blake Powers trying to boost Officer Luis Alejandre through a first-floor window of a home on fire on the 4400 block of Opal Avenue.
Once Goliebowski arrives, he positions the car so that the officers can use the hood as a platform. In less than a minute, they are able to pull a wheelchair-using man from his chair to safety.
Deputy Chief Dave Diffelhorst says the camera couldn't show the inside of the home, which was a solid wall of smoke.
He says Alejandre told him the visibility was less than two feet, even with a flashlight, and said he guided the man by voice command until he could see him and pull him through the opened window.
Fire officials have told Diffelhorst the man could have been overcome by the smoke and killed in a matter of seconds.
Diffelhorst says the victim is making a full recovery. The officers' teamwork under pressure was perfect, he says.
"It's just great stuff. I couldn't be more proud of these guys," he said.
The fire is believed to have started after a light bulb exploded in the house, authorities tell CBS 2.
