Screams and shrieks could be heard at a Madison, Indiana, apartment earlier this month as rescue workers yelled to a family to “jump” out of a window to safety as a fire raged.
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The inferno, which unfolded around 1 a.m. on July 3, left five children and one woman trapped, with the staircase out of the building “engulfed in flames.”
When cops with the Madison Police Department arrived, they encouraged the family to jump from the second-story window and pledged to catch each of them.
“A child inside of the home began breaking out windows, and MPD Officers and Detectives were able to catch each child as they jumped from the windows,” a statement from authorities read. “One adult female also [sic] leapt from the second-story window and was caught by Officers.”
Detective Shawn Scudder told the Courier Journal the little girl who broke the windows used her smarts to protect her safety before helping drop a 3-year-old child down to the police.
“There was one little girl that held up pretty well,” Scudder said. “She wrapped her hands in a pillowcase to break the window.”
Bodycam footage shows a large group of cops raising their hands as they catch the family members coming out of the window. Screams and shrieks are heard from the terrified family.
“Jump! Jump! one cop proclaims as officers encourage the family. “We’ve got you.”
Watch the video:
The obvious impact on those rescued is evident, though officer Nichole Midgett said she, too, will never forget the scary ordeal and the rescue.
“I’ll take [that night] with me for the rest of my career,” Midgett told the Courier Journal. “The most important thing is that they are OK and that they are alive. Knowing that I impacted someone’s life, it goes beyond words, really.”
Fortunately, no serious injuries unfolded. Authorities continue to investigate the cause of the fire.
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