Chattanooga Officer Rushes into Burning Home to Rescue Mother and Two Children

A Tennessee police officer won praise for bravery after he rushed into a burning home on May 1 to rescue a mother and her two children.

The Chattanooga Police Department said Officer Rogers reached the two-story house before firefighters arrived. Flames were visible on the front door and the exterior and interior walls of the second floor, with the fire already spreading into the attic.

Neighbors told Rogers that people remained inside. He entered the structure and rescued a woman and two children, then returned with a fire extinguisher to fight the flames on the front porch.

No injuries occurred, the department said in a Facebook post with bodycam footage. Officers receive no firefighting training, but the department called Rogers exemplary and thanked him for his community service.

WTVC reported that Rogers carried 4-year-old Marlowe to safety as her mother, Rachel Blaylock, followed with her 10-year-old son, Charles.

Blaylock told WTVC, "I keep thinking back: 'How was I going to get two kids down the stairs?' He just grabs Marlowe, and he was willing to go back in. I was trying to tell him that no one else was there, but he was already going back up."

The Chattanooga Fire Department said crews knocked down the blaze within 20 minutes. The Red Cross is assisting the residents, and an online fundraiser noted that the Blaylock home was destroyed with the loss of all belongings.