WATCH – Civilian, Officers Save Children from Burning Apartment: ‘Selfless Act of Courage’

Two children were rescued from a fire at a Mesa, Arizona, apartment building Friday thanks to a heroic citizen and police officers.

Smoke and flames poured out of two apartment units as the fire spread to the attic and firefighters worked the scene, AZFamily.com reported.

In bodycam footage shared by the Mesa Police Department, a man was recorded scaling a wall near a window and breaking the glass to reach a toddler inside the dwelling.

The man, wearing a black shirt and jeans, eventually pulled the frame off the window, then hopped inside. Moments later, he emerged carrying the child and handed her off to a policeman.

“I might have cut her,” he told the officer, clearly worried about the child’s well-being.

The policeman then ran around to the front of the building to find paramedics as the man made his way back inside the burning apartment to rescue a six-year-old who remained inside:

The end of the video showed the moment the second child was handed out the window into the arms of first responders.

“He yelled out and said to me, ‘Hey, there’s someone else in there.’ And I said, ‘Can you grab that person and bring that little girl out to safety?’ And he did,” recalled Jon Forrest of the police department.

“There’s so much smoke in there that if you pass out, it could be deadly, obviously. For that civilian to be so courageous, jump up there, he saved two kids’ lives today,” he added.

Social media users praised the individual for assisting in the rescue, with one person writing, “Thank God for that man taking action to get them out. What a selfless act of courage, honestly he was the first responder.”

“I love the unified action with citizens and authorities. Brings out the best in everyone,” another commented.

The children were later transported to the hospital to be checked, and the four officers were also treated and sent home.

In regard to the citizen, “He was at the car wash minding his own business, recognized there was a fire back there, jumped the wall, left the car at the car wash and really did an outstanding job today and really saved two kids’ lives,” according to Chad Serchen of the police department.