The life-saving actions of two response officers helped stop a house fire and rescue a woman asleep inside the building.
Police Constables Gregg Cartwright and Jamie Walker sprang into action after spotting black smoke above Mason Street, Sutton-in-Ashfield.
Believing the people and properties on the street were at risk, the duo – who had been out on patrol – rushed towards the source of the smoke.
Within a few seconds, PCs Cartwright and Walker found a fire burning in a rear garden, which they could clearly see through a house’s conservatory.
Aware that time was of the essence, the officers took immediate action by using the equipment at their disposal to get inside the home and put the fire out.
PC Cartwright firstly smashed a window with his baton to gain access, with the commotion waking a woman who had been sleeping yards away in the next room.
At that point, PC Walker rushed into the building to get the occupant out safely, while PC Cartwright grabbed a fire extinguisher and used it to put out the blaze seconds later.
Nobody sustained any injuries in the 13 August incident, with the actions of PC Cartwright and PC Walker – from the Mansfield Rota 3 response team – playing a key part in that.
“We knew there was somebody inside the building who needed to be saved, so we did what any other police officer would do,” said PC Cartwright.
“There wasn’t really a lot to think about. We just forced entry, got the woman inside out, and then tried to handle the fire as best as we could.”
PC Walker added:
“When it comes to response policing, you can come across anything, as we did with this incident. We were just driving past when we saw some smoke, so thought we better check it out.
“That’s response policing, really. One minute you can be sent to a job and the next you can come across something like this.”
Chief Inspector Paul Hennessy said:
“While I’ve no doubt both officers will consider what they did to be ordinary police work, that understates how much of an extraordinary contribution they made.
“When you consider the fire was burning so close to the property and the homeowner was sleeping just yards away, their intervention might well have saved her life and the lives of others too.
“PC Cartwright and PC Walker were out on patrol when they spotted the smoke and didn’t hesitate to act when they recognised the dangerous situation that was developing.
“That rapid response and the calmness they showed to gain access to the address and – between them – get the woman inside out safely and extinguish the fire, deserves immense credit.”
