Deputies use pick-up truck to save residents from burning apartment
By: Mason County, MI - The Mason County Sheriff is praising two members in the department for their quick response in rescuing people from a fire at an apartment complex Monday night.
Sheriff Kim Cole says the fire broke out around 9:50 p.m. on the first floor of the Glendale Apartments in the City of Scottville.
The department released the body camera footage of the rescue, which Cole says was for transparency and to promote the good deeds done by the emergency responders.
“It is an example of what law enforcement officers, not only here locally, but across the state and across the nation, do every day,” he said. “And we're certainly going to promote the good things law enforcement officers do.”
Cole says two Mason County Sheriff patrol deputies were the first to arrive just minutes after the fire started.
Smoke flooded the upstairs of the apartment building, leaving the doors inaccessible, forcing people onto their balconies for rescue.
Sergeant Adam Claveau with the Sheriff's Office knew they had to think quickly. He pulled his patrol truck up to the first balcony, where a woman and child were calling for help, and was able to help them down to safety.
In the body camera footage, you can hear a child crying as the deputy pulls them to safety over the balcony railing, saying, "We got you" and "I got you sweetie."
Deputies tried to pry the railing off the balcony to help the woman get down, but were unable to do it quickly. The deputy helped the woman down over the balcony railing, then onto his shoulder, then down to the ground safely.
Everyone on the force at the sheriff’s department carries halogen tools that can be used for prying doors or rails on a balcony, like in this instance, Cole says.
“I was quite proud of the fact that they were working through different obstacles that were placed before them to have a successful rescue,” he said. “That was awesome.”
He is also proud of Sergeant Claveau, Deputy Matt Moss and other emergency responders in the situation for staying calm and thinking through problems to get everyone to safety.
“When you're in a stressful situation, your mind tends to kind of shut down a little bit. You get a little bit of tunnel vision. And the guys did incredible,” he said. “The firefighters were incredible. The residents that weren't trapped, that actually came out. If you see the deputy handing the child to a citizen that happened to be a fellow resident of the apartment complex, so many hands make light work. And it was a great outcome.”
Cole says the sheriff’s department responds to criminal cases and helps out in other situations when needed. And when deeds like this one are done, they need to be recognized.
“Sergeant Claveau and Deputy Moss are great guys there. They've been here a while. Yeah, this is what they do,” he said. “They're probably a little embarrassed that the camera, the body cams, were released. But they need to be recognized when good deeds are done. And we're going to do that every chance we get.”
The sheriff’s department says no one died in the fire, and people were treated on the scene by LIFE EMS and at a local hospital.