DES MOINES, Iowa—Four police officers who rushed to the scene of an apartment fire are being hailed for catching three young children dropped by their mother from a third-story window.
A video recorded from an officer's body camera shows Iowa police catching the kids.
The officers arrived at the scene early Tuesday morning, March 19, before firefighters.
In order to rescue the occupants, four officers positioned themselves outside the building and caught the children who were dropped from the window.
The Des Moines officers, called upon the frantic mother and encouraging her to drop her three children.
One officer can be heard yelling over the sound of sirens, “I got ‘em. Yup. Drop ’em!”
The officers can then be seen catching children in their arms, including a crying baby, as fire erupts from a nearby window.
Police say the officers involved were Cole Johnson, Tyler Kelley, Casey Sanders and Craig Vasquez.
"I can't say thank them enough. I owe them the world because they saved my world," O'Sheana said.
Fire Lt. Rick Thomas says the crew was able to control the fire and all residents have been escorted to safety.
"Hero To Be Remembered"
Every once in a while, collective spirits are revived by the actions of a real-life hero. Twenty-five-year-old Albert Madrid was such a hero. Returning to his trailer park in Highland, California, shortly after midnight, Madrid saw a mobile home engulfed in flames. Madrid immediately rushed towards the scene and to the aid of the family asleep inside.The fire started in the middle of the night on March 9, 2019. Madrid was with his girlfriend when he returned home and was spurred by an instinctive response to the flames, rushing from his vehicle to help escort the family to safety.
Cal Fire then went on to deliver a devastating blow: "A bystander who was providing rescue efforts prior to the first arriving fire engine perished in the fire." Madrid, after his incredible success in helping rescue the whole family from their burning home, didn't make it out alive.
Madrid's mom met the family that her son had saved and shared a tearful embrace. “That family came up to me," she regaled, "and hugged me and told me, ‘We want to thank you, because your son saved the little kids and my dad.'”
Madrid's father, Robert Madrid, wrote a eulogy on a memorial website for his son: "He was only 25 years old but he was the bravest man I have ever known," the young man's father shared. "He is my hero, my son, a brother, and a grandchild.”
The family, collectively, is working through their heartbreak by focusing on Madrid's act of selflessness and the extraordinary rewards reaped from his actions: namely, that two little girls and one entire family are safe and sound, thanks to him. “My brother chose to go in and help, and I want him to be remembered for that,” Madrid's sister Melissa said, tearfully. “He is a good man.”
Madrid will be remembered during a funeral that the family are collectively arranging. They are hoping to raise the necessary funds to say a fitting farewell to their beloved son, brother, and partner through a GoFundMe campaign, set up "in loving memory" of Albert G. Madrid.
Cal Fire assured the family, local residents, and the neighborhood at large that the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.
Family and friends held a vigil for their lost hero. Madrid's father echoed the sentiments of everybody who knew his brave and selfless son: “He will be loved and missed."