LYNCHBURG, Va. – A Lynchburg police officer is being called a hero after he ran into a house going up in flames and saved the people inside.
“I just tried to get in there as quickly as I could and get people to safety,” Officer Stephen Rippy said.
What started out as a normal shift for Officer Stephen Rippy turned into taking on the duties of a firefighter.
[Lynchburg house fire leaves $100k in damages, appears to be accidental]
“The first thing I’m seeing is items that were structural that are falling off the house and into the grass, obviously the house is engulfed in flames,” Rippy said.
It didn’t take long for Officer Rippy to take matters into his own hands. He kicked down the door to the house on fire and immediately started yelling for people to leave.
“There’s not really any form of real training that goes with this at the police department, but you just fall back on what you know you can do which is keep people safe,” he said.
Officer Rippy said the fire crews came no more than two minutes after he started to jump into action.
“Being able to recognize a situation without having the training necessary, still putting yourself in harm’s way to make sure you save someone else or effect a rescue is certainly something to be said,” Greg Wormser, Fire Chief in Lynchburg said.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but we are told they believe there was no malicious intent.