Franklin officers save woman trapped in fully engulfed house fire

WARREN COUNTY, Ohio (WXIX) - Two Franklin police officers are being commended for their courage after pulling a woman from her burning home.

The fire broke out in the house Tuesday afternoon. Officers Chris Keene and Tiffany Mount Joy arrived at the scene to find flames towering above the roof and shooting through every window but one.

Through that window, partially hidden by the thick, roiling flood of smoke filling up the house, Keene saw a woman yelling for help.

Franklin Police Lt. Brian Pacifico says the officers didn’t hesitate.

“We don’t think about what we’re doing,” he said. “We act. It’s what we do.”

Pacifico recounts how Keene plunged halfway inside the window to the pull the woman out by her hips.

Firefighters and paramedics arrived moments later. Pacifico says the quick actions of the officers spared the woman any injuries.

“They brought a stretcher up, put her on there. She was alert and conscious. She was able to talk to them and she went to the hospital for checks and, as far as we know, she’s fine.”

Pacifico says there’s not time to ruminate in the grips of an emergency. It’s when the emergency subsides that those thoughts pour in like a deluge.

“It’s the afterthought that always scares us,” he said. “We act, we react, and then when things are over and you calm down, you look back and go, ‘What did I just do?’ It’s always after the fact.”

Pacifico adds it’s all part of being a police officer.

“They’re not looking to be heroes,” he said. “They’re not looking to get anything out of this. They did their job and they’ll do the same thing again tomorrow if they have to.”

Investigators have not yet determined what caused the blaze.

It remains under investigation.

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