Nighttime fire rescue just another day on the job for officers

They wore no turnout gear. They had no masks or oxygen tanks. They carried no tools to break down doors if necessary. 

Yet on the night of Feb. 20, three officers of the Sarasota Police Department — one of them recently signed off and headed toward an extra-duty detail — rushed into a burning home to rescue two elderly people, including a limited-mobility woman who was carried to safety.

There is no police academy training for fire rescue. That’s typically left to an agency that trains night and day and whose personnel is equipped with gear specifically designed for the task. Still, they rushed into the flames at the home in the 2200 block of North Osprey Avenue, ordering occupants to leave while rushing room to room in search of potential victims.

Body-worn cameras captured the chaotic scene that night, the officers’ actions prompting Sarasota Police Chief Rex Troche to hail as heroes for their actions officers Daniel Stevens, Anthony Zappone and Nick Bernier.

Courtesy image

“I am so proud of these officers, and I always tell people that officers run in when people are running out,” Troche told the Observer. “This was just another example of when people were running out, and couldn't get out, that officers were not only running in to save them, but breaking things and pushing stuff aside so that they could get in and save people.”

Zappone and Bernier were on regular patrol nearby and were first on the scene when Stevens, a Crime Investigations Unit officer filling in on traffic patrol that night, arrived. Stevens was newly off duty and on his way to fill his cruiser with gas a few blocks away when he heard the call. Rushing to the scene, he observed Zappone running into the structure, who could be heard on the video footage yelling for everyone to evacuate and asking if anyone was inside.

The answer was yes, and as a new and rapidly developing situation, Stevens said available details from dispatch were scarce when he arrived on the scene.

“I just wanted to make sure I connected with (Zappone) to see what side he was on so I can go to the other side, and we tag-teamed as other officers were also arriving,” Stevens told the Observer. “At that point I took on the job of looking through rooms to see if I could locate anyone else still in the structure. He was already talking to someone, so while he was dealing with that, I went around and tried to see if there were any other rooms or doors that needed to be opened.”

There were, and in one of those rooms he found the woman struggling to flee.

Image courtesy of Sarasota Police Department

In a recorded interview, Zappone reported rushing to the scene from two blocks away. When he heard screams that someone remained in the house, his first instinct was to run inside.

“The decision to run in was pretty easy because I know that other guys are coming and they're going to be coming in that door right behind me,” Zappone said. “It gives you the confidence that you're going to be safe. I trust my partners with my life.”

Stevens’ body camera footage shows him locating an elderly woman who relies on a walker, picking her up and carrying her to safety.

Even as officers reached the street, live power lines began to fall causing sparks to rain down around them, prompting them to carry the victim farther away to safety.

“I have to give huge credit to Officer Stevens, who made the decision to pick up the elderly woman to get her out of there,” Zappone said. "He's definitely the true hero of the story.”

Both Zappone and Stevens brushed off the heroism talk. They just happened to be in the right place at the right time to do, they said, what any of their fellow officers would. Although not trained in fire rescue, their drilling does teach them how to respond to critical situations regardless of their nature, quickly assess the conditions and call for additional resources and assets as needed. 

Confronting danger, Stevens said, is just part of the job.

“As cliche as it might sound, no one woke up that day expecting to be a hero today,” he said. “The biggest benefit is knowing that these people are as safe as we can make them in that short time that we have to respond.”

Troche did not allow his officers’ modesty to remain unchecked.

“Here's a situation where you have officers getting as close as they can to that building so they can get into that home as fast as possible. And without regard to their own safety — without any specialty equipment to keep them from getting burned or oxygen tanks — they didn't care about any of that to save people's lives,” Troche said.

“I could not be any prouder.”