Culpeper Police Department officers received valor awards on Oct. 14 for their role in extracting an unresponsive man from a burning wooden house in Culpeper, Virginia. The incident occurred on the evening of Oct. 3, when residents of the apartment building alerted authorities that one occupant had not exited despite heavy smoke billowing from the windows.
Officer Ashley Sain entered the structure without protective gear, followed shortly by Officer Neal Coffey. Body-worn camera footage recorded the pair ascending the stairs, passing "No Smoking" signs on the walls, before reaching a locked door on the second floor. Smoke seeped through the cracks surrounding the door. Sain shouted into the room while Coffey used a pocket-size tool to unlock the entryway.
Upon entering the bedroom, Coffey encountered thick black smoke and visible flames. The officers called out to the occupant but received no response. Coffey crawled across the wooden plank floor with a flashlight, describing his inability to see through the smoke. He located a man lying unresponsive on a bed and began tugging on his arm. After confirming the man was breathing, Coffey pulled him onto the floor. Officer Michael Beel and Sgt. David Cole, who had also reached the second floor, joined in to drag the unconscious resident into the hallway.
A firefighter in protective gear then entered the smoke-filled room. A team of firefighters carried the man out of the building and extinguished the fire. The rescued resident was transported to a hospital and subsequently transferred to a regional burn center. Three of the police officers involved in the rescue were treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries at a hospital before being released that evening.
Capt. Kevin Tooley of the Culpeper Police Department, who supervised the scene, stated that the officers went above and beyond normal police duties. He noted that entering burning buildings is typically a fire department responsibility, but emphasized the department's commitment to saving lives when necessary. The identities of the rescued man and the cause of the fire have not been released as part of an active investigation.