Apartment Fire Victims Thank Police Officers Who Saved Them
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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - "I am very, very grateful for what you did." Those words from a North Texas mother as she thanked a pair of Arlington police officers who she says saved her family.
The family was sleeping when a fire at a fire broke out at the Woodland Park Apartments, in the 2000 block of Valleywood Drive.
Arlington police Officers Kristi Johnson and officer Billy Cruz were on a routine call when they saw people running out of an apartment filled with smoke. It was next-door where mother Marci Savill and her two children were asleep. Another mother was with her twins nearby.
The coincidental location of police meant the officers could immediately leap into action. The officers leapt into action. Officer Cruz admitted, "How many times do you have a fire and you open your door and there's a cop three feet away?" That is indeed what happened.
Officer Johnson ran into the smoke-filled apartment and saved the twins. A resident snapped a picture of her carrying one of them, after getting safely outside.
During a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Johnson's voice was still hoarse from inhaling thick smoke. "The fire spread pretty quick. The smoke, the flames… when we finally came out of some of those apartments," she recalled shaking her head. "It was scary when we went to some of those apartments. Some of the people didn't answer doors immediately. It was scary."
One apartment was pitch black with smoke when Officer Cruz entered and saw a surprising sight in the inky darkness -- a little girl. "She was probably four or five, just kind of standing in the doorway," he said. "I remember she had this sort of blank stare on her face. She didn't know what to do. I grabbed her, picked her up."
The little girl's mother, Marci Savill, and 18-month-old brother were nearby. Savill remembered that Cruz, "…didn't hardly explain nothing. He just grabbed her and said 'we gotta go!'"
The grateful mother said Officer Cruz led her and her family to safety. "My children are alive today because of you," she told the officers. "And I thank you very much."
Officer Cruz told Savill "You're welcome," and added, "if that was my niece or that was my nephew in there, I would hope somebody would do what I did."
Some apartment residents have been allowed back inside their units to remove some of their smoke damaged property. None of the residents at the complex were injured and both Officer Johnson and Officer Cruz say they plan on being back on the street this weekend.
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