Page 53 - August 2018

eroic response officers to rescue to omen trapped in fire
n BY DAN CAMPANA
In a heartbeat, the officers shifted from enforcing the law in a challenging situation to saving lives in an extremely dangerous one.
In May, a fire broke out in a home near 79th and Muskegon. As several officers and sergeants were leaving the scene of a do- mestic dispute that ended with two arrests, a man frantically ran across the street yell- ing that his wife and daughter were trapped inside the burning residence.
The heroic actions of the officers that day were the focus of the Chicago Po- lice Memorial Foundation’s Officer of the Month award ceremony in July. Recipients included Officers Denovelle Lamon, Lyle Jandecek, Robert Skrobot, Timothy Griffin and An Yuan, as well as Sergeants Scott Hall and Carlos Sanchez.
“The officers that evening did what many police officers do every watch in this City — they come when people ask for help,” said CPMF Executive Director Phil Cline. “When these officers and sergeants responded to a call of a domestic disturbance, they never
imagined they would be risking their lives to save others in a house fire — but it was what their job called for that night.”
Lamon ran to the house and kicked in the front door. Hall and Sanchez immedi- ately entered, calling out for anyone inside. The sound of a screaming woman drew them to a bedroom door that wouldn’t budge. The dense smoke took its toll on the pair, causing them to go outside to regroup.
The other officers looked for another way in; Lamon found found it and kicked in a rear door. He entered along with Hall, Griffin, Jandecek and Skrobot but they were forced to crawl on their hands and knees because of the thick smoke. Lamon located the wife and pulled her to safety as
the others attempted to locate the woman trapped behind the bedroom door.
Sanchez and Hall made multiple trips back inside only to be forced out because of the intense flames and stifling smoke. The officers eventually learned that the trapped woman, the man’s daughter, was in a wheelchair. Yuan made the final attempt to bust through the door, which had become engulfed by the fire. However, he too was forced back out of the house by the smoke.
Chicago firefighters arrived soon after and were able to break into the bedroom, learning the door had become blocked by a collapsed ceiling that also trapped the daughter in her bed. She and her moth- er were hospitalized, but officials said the daughter later died from her injuries.
CPMF officials praised the teamwork shown by officers in their selfless attempt to save the mother and daughter — even at the risk of their own lives. Sanchez and the five officers were treated and released for unspecified injuries. Hall, according to CPMF, suffered permanent injuries to his respiratory system.d
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