On December 18th Officer Robin Brachear with the Chatham Police Department responded to a report of a structure fire. Dispatch advised the entire home was on fire.
Officer Brachear arrived on scene and immediately noticed smoke billowing out of the south window of the residence. He also noticed a young toddler boy, 2 to 3 years of age, running towards the home that was currently on fire. Officer Brachear exited his squad car quickly and picked up the little boy. He brought him over to the safety of a nearby neighbor who was standing outside watching the fire.
Officer Brachear returned to the home and entered it through the front door. He saw smoke throughout that was so dark he could not see the ceiling. Bending down and peering through the smoke, he could make out what appeared to be a person attempting to put the fire out. The person appeared to be in obvious distress, and he yelled at them with no response. The smoke was so thick he could not breathe. Officer Brachear ran out to his squad car and quickly retrieved his fire extinguisher. He returned to the residence and sprayed the fire the best he could. He then located the woman and quickly escorted her outside the residence to safety.
The Chatham Fire Department arrived on scene shortly thereafter. They were able to extinguish the blaze.
"𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙮, 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙪𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙧, 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙛𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙤𝙭𝙞𝙘 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙. 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙛 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙠𝙡𝙮, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙧 𝙨𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙪𝙢𝙗 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙢𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙣𝙝𝙖𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣" said Officer Brachear
Chatham Police officials say "Officer Brashear is to be commended for his quick thinking and efforts on this call. Risking his own life and safety, he went into the burning home to rescue the woman still inside of it. Considering the little boy he noticed immediately after arriving on scene running towards the trailer that his mother was inside of, it is very possible he saved not only one life, but two. His actions bring great credit upon himself, the Chatham Police Department, and the Village of Chatham. We could not possibly be any more proud of him.
We also want to recognize the Chatham Fire Department for their critical role in this fire call. Public safety is all about teamwork, and we are proud to work alongside a great group of men and women at CFD."