Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 4822 AMERICAN POLICE BEAT: MAY 2016 D uring fires, police officers are frequently first on scene. That fact un- doubtedly saved lives in Nassau County, New York, recently. According to a report from CNN with dramatic video, the smoke coming out of the windows of an apartment was so black that Nassau County police Officer Luis Ascencio could barely see the two people trapped at the second floor window. They were screaming for help. About 100 firefighters from more than 10 depart- ments would eventually respond, but Ascencio was there first. Four of his fellow officers showed up just afterward. They had to decide wheth- er to wait for the trucks or risk life and limb to save the residents. It wasn’t a tough call. The cops raced over to a nearby construction site to get a ladder but it wouldn’t fully extend. That left the officers about five feet below the lower lip of the window on the second floor. They were about 5 feet short of the window and the frightened people inside. Flames were everywhere and licking at the trapped occupants and responding officers alike. Braving the heat and flames, the cops managed to get the ladder close enough to the window to so the trapped couple could make their descent. Officer James Schurlein helped a woman to safety by staying calm and giving clear instructions. “She came out of the win- dow, I was afraid that she was going to fall. And if she had fallen, I was going to go down with her because there was no other options. But she listened to me, I told her what to do, she listened, she came down the ladder slowly,” he said. Officer Peter Duvenhorst blocked traffic with his po- lice car and evacuated sur- rounding buildings. There were still a few workers inside an adjacent store and they needed to get out fast. “You could barely see your hand in front of your face as you were getting closer. You could actually feel as you took a breath that you were struggling to take a breath. It was very, very heavy,” he said. And here’s the thing about fires – they’re never over ‘til they’re over. Ascencio was going up the ladder to help the 30-year- old man still inside when a corner window blew out. Flames and glass were ev- erywhere, surrounding the rescuer and the rescuee. “It just exploded. And then the heat came out,” Schurlein said, “That was when we had to back off, because there was nothing else we could do.” By this time the Fire De- partment had arrived. But not everyone was clear. Officers Evan Marro and Jason Dennington rushed to the back of the building and saw a family with two young kids trapped on the roof. They got a ladder up there and the girl was on her way down when she froze. Marro got her moving again by assured her she would be all right and giving her encouragement. “I told her to jump be- cause she was kind of scared. ... She jumped into my arms, I grabbed her, put her on the ground and then we as- sisted everybody else to get down.” “You see kids that need help – you don’t really think, we just reacted,” Denning- ton said. Between them, the team composed of the Fire De- partment and Nassau Coun- ty Police Department res- cued eight residents. “Nah chief, I think we’re good here. A bunch of Nassau cops showed up early and got ‘em all out.” Daring rescues Cops risk life and limb in fire saves Officer James Schurlein Officer Evan Marro Officer Jason Dennington Officer Peter Duvenhorst Officer Luis Ascencio