• Tweet
• Share
• Email
• Print

MILWAUKEE - Two Milwaukee police officers are being credited with saving a woman from a burning home. Officer Jerry Whiteley was on duty and Officer Ken Cecil was off duty. The two just happened to drive by 3rd and Locust at the same time Friday and saw heavy smoke coming from the home. Whiteley used his police radio to notify the fire department.

The two men knew someone could be inside and in need of help so they ran in. "I came in low and pushed the door open. Officer Whiteley had by back holding my jacket in case I went down," explained Cecil.

The heat was so intense, the flames were growing and the smoke was so intense they could barely see in front of them. But, they could see a woman's feet as she stood in the dining room. She would respond to their calls.

"She was frozen. Whether it was fear or lack of oxygen because of the smoke. She wasn't taking another step without guidance. We had to grab one hand and arm each of us and help her out," the two explained.

When they got the woman out they said her head was smoldering and her hair had been singed. She had inhaled a lot of smoke. The officers later learned the woman was at home alone and suffers from mental illness.

The victim's family is grateful to these officers. "If they didn't do that, if they didn't drive by she probably wouldn't have been saved," said the victim's sister Shelia Buchanan.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.