SAN ANTONIO — Acting fast to save lives. Three Elmendorf Police Officers rushed to a trash fire to stop it from spreading to a home. Body camera video shows their quick-thinking, which happened in the early morning hours into New Years Day.
The officers said they just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Officers Darell Ward, Matthew Redd, and Leroy Wilkins were the ones that responded to the home off Homewood Lane. The three happened to be in the area. At first, Ward said he saw something.
“Something clicked to me,” Ward said. “It is a fire. I saw black smoke.”
Flames were shooting out of the trash can right by the home. Officer Ward said a family of five was asleep inside the house. He went straight to the door.
“I notified the owners there was a fire outside of their house,” he said.
While getting the family to safety, Redd and Wilkins got to work.
“It was getting larger pretty quick,” Redd said. “There was an electrical wire box to the house right behind it.” “We used the water hose and put the fire out,” Wilkins said.
The officers said the fire was growing quickly.
“Probably within another minute that whole side of the house would have been on fire if we didn’t stop at that time,” Ward said.
“I think the fire department had a quick response time,” Redd said. “But, I think it would have been a lot worse had we not been in the area.”
The fire department did show up to help. It was a true team effort and first for these guys who wear the badge.
“I definitely have never put out any fires,” Redd said. “I got to be a firefighter for a little bit.”
“You never know what you are going to get into when you come into this field of work,” Ward said. “You just have to be ready for anything that comes.”
The officers said fireworks are most likely to blame. They said they found a bunch of fireworks in the trash that has been lit. They said they were still hot, which most likely caused the fire to ignite. The family told the officers thank you for saving their home and their lives.