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Warren officer who rescued man from house fire: ‘That’s what I’m here for’
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Despite all the training and protocols in police work, there is no protocol that tells an officer to enter a burning building to rescue someone.
But when Warren officer Joseph Wilson heard someone yelling for help from inside a burning house on Wick Street at 3 a.m. Wednesday, a protective instinct kicked in.
Wilson was serving as a training officer for recently hired officer Larry Marsh and told Marsh: “Do not go into the building.”
But that didn’t stop Wilson from doing exactly that himself.
“I heard him screaming for help,” Wilson said of resident Cecil Ford, “so I just decided to go for it,” Wilson said of busting down a fence, pulling open a patio door, entering a first-floor filling with smoke and locating Ford face-down on the floor.
“I just gave it a good yank, and it opened up,” Wilson said of the patio door. “I radioed dispatch I was going in,” Wilson said. Fortunately, Wilson could see Ford from the door.
Wilson had hoped to hold his breath during the rescue, but that thought ended when he asked Ford to move toward him, away from the fire, which was five to 10 feet away from Ford coming down the staircase.
“I asked him to move toward me, but he wasn’t able to,” Wilson said. “Where Cecil was, it was nothing but smoke and fire.”
With smoke entering his own lungs, Wilson put Ford on his shoulder and hauled him out.
“On the battlefield, that’s how they teach you to carry people,” Wilson said. “It was second nature.”
Wilson, who has been a Warren police officer four years, also served two tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan when he was in the Army.
Wilson’s own patrol car dash cam captured Wilson and another officer helping Ford walk to safety after the rescue.
Wilson said he decided after the rescue that he did not need any medical attention.
Fire investigators believe the fire began in the second floor bedroom of Amy Ford, Cecil’s wife. They believe a faulty heating pad she was using in bed probably started the fire.
She told The Vindicator Wednesday she awoke to flames behind her head in the area of the controller for the pad.
The home, which is close to Warren John F. Kennedy High School, has around $40,000 in damage.
Warren Council President Jim Graham said Wednesday night that Wilson will be getting a proclamation of valor at the next council meeting.
Wilson’s turn commander, Sgt. Dan Hudak, suggested the honor in a report he wrote to his supervisors shortly after the rescue, saying Wilson’s actions probably saved Cecil Ford’s life.
Amy Ford, who suffered minor injuries, told The Vindicator Wednesday her husband did not get burned, and she believes he will be OK.
“We are extra proud of officer Wilson,” Warren Police Chief Eric Merkel said. “He’s a combat medic with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. A house fire in Warren is probably no big deal to him.”
He added, “The public should know that at 3 in the morning, that is the caliber of officer that is driving down the road.”
When asked if he made the right decision to enter the home, Wilson said: “That’s what I’m here for, is to help people. I know in this police department, a lot of guys would do that.”