O’FALLON, Il. (First Alert 4) – Four O’Fallon, Illinois police officers were honored at a city council meeting Monday night after they saved a disabled man from a burning building.
Sgt. Matt Plassman, Ptl. Chad Finnan, Ptl. Kenneth Morris, and Ptl. Michael Shewmaker were awarded the Meritorious Conduct Award for their acts of courage on March 25, when they entered a duplex that was on fire to carry a man out.
“The only thought process was that they are coming out,” Ptl. Finnan said. “Not how are we going to get them out. It’s they’re coming out. We’re getting them out.”
Patrolmen Finnan and Morris were first on the scene that night, shattering the glass door with a fire extinguisher to enter the home.
Two men were inside. One man was able to walk out, whereas his dad was in the bedroom.
“I mean seconds are minutes,” Ptl. Morris said.
As they searched for the paraplegic man, Ptl. Morris’ other training kicked in. As a volunteer firefighter, he knew how to stay as safe as he could, even without the proper gear.
“I did say to myself, ‘we need to stay down,” Ptl. Morris said. “We need to stay lower where there is fresher air so we’re not breathing in the smoke. Processing what gear I did have on at that point, I realized I didn’t have the airway protection. I didn’t have the heat protection so I knew we had to work quickly to get out of that residence before it deteriorated faster.”
“We put safety at the forefront of everything we do and every contact we have with the public,” Ptl. Finnan said.
While the award from the city council is meaningful, the officers said what they did is also what’s expected of them.
“We interact with people oftentimes on the worst days of their life and that’s a normal day for us,” Ptl. Finnan said. “It’s fantastic to be recognized for some of the stuff we do but this is stuff we do every day.”
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