A timely patrol by NYPD officers led them to a burning apartment building in Brooklyn last week, and body camera footage captured their efforts as they helped rescue about a dozen residents, including children and a man on crutches.
The fire erupted just before 10 a.m. Feb. 14 on the fourth floor of Brownsville apartment complex, WPIX-TV reports. Officers from Police Service Area #2 were on patrol when they spotted smoke pouring from a building, and they contacted the FDNY before heading into the building, according to the NYPD.
"We heard screaming for help, calls for help out the window," Officer Mark Kalwa told WNBC-TV.
"When you hear the screams, it's something in you. You can't just disregard that and wait for fire, so we went up," added Officer Vincenzo Rallo.
The officers fought through heavy smoke to reach the residents and helped them get out by the stairs. Kalwa helped a man on crutches get out of the building, while another assisted a teen with a broken leg.
The first resident Rallo encountered was a mother and child who were struggling to get out of the building.
"(S)he just looked like she was going to go down, so I grabbed the baby from her, helped her down the stairs and took the baby," said Rallo. "And that was the first one we brought down.
"It was the most gratifying thing; the kid being safe was just the coolest feeling," he added.
Other video footage from the scene showed smoke spilling out of apartment windows as FDNY crews worked to get rid of burned debris inside units. Three firefighters also were praised for saving an unconscious woman trapped on the fourth floor.
NYPD officers and FDNY firefighters were able to rescue 12 people from the building. Nine people were injured in the incident.
"It's just humbling to be there at their time of need and provide that service," said Kalwa.
