Mayor Madeline Rogero and Police Chief David Rausch presented the Life Saving Award to five officers after their response to a vehicle crash resulted in saving the life of a trapped victim.
Lt. Tracy Hunter, Officer John Stevens, Officer Stephanie Wilson, and Officer Rodney 0’Townsend, were presented with the award.
On September 26, 2017, at approximately 1:46 a.m., the officers received a call of a car crash on Dandridge Avenue at Witt Place. As the officers were responding to the scene they were advised that the car was on fire. Upon arrival, Officers Stevens and former officer Andrew Connell found a Lincoln Continental on its top and in flames. Stevens went to one side of the car while Connell went to the other side. Stevens found one female passenger lying on the sidewalk of Witt Place. She was safe and out of the way, but suffering from a severe leg injury. Officer Stevens then went to the other side of the car and found Connell with a male subject lying directly beside the burning car. The male had multiple injuries and could not move away from the burning vehicle on his own. The two officers grabbed the male and dragged him away from the fire to a safe location. The officers returned to the car a second time along with Officers Wilson, Townsend, and Lt. Hunter.
Inside the burning vehicle, they discovered a barely conscious female lying in the back seat. They tried numerous times to reach her, but the flames were growing in intensity. Due to the flames, they could not get close enough to grab the trapped victim. Lt. Hunter, Officer Wilson, and Officer Townsend retrieved their fire extinguishers and began spraying the flames in an attempt to extinguish the fire enough so Stevens and Connell could reach the victim. Just before the extinguishers ran out, they were able to pull the now unconscious female from the vehicle. All of the officers returned to the car to attempt a rescue of another trapped individual, but the flames had overtaken the car completely. The heat from the fire was so intense, the officers’ uniforms were smoking and they could not breathe from the smoke.
The fire department arrived on the scene, extinguished the fire, and pulled the final victim from the vehicle, but he did not survive his injuries.
Chief Rausch said, “This was a particularly chaotic and stressful scene, but if not for the quick response and excellent teamwork by all the officers involved, more deaths would have resulted from the fire. It is without a doubt that these officers were instrumental in saving lives after this horrific tragedy.”
Click here to view a listing of previous KPD award winners.