Body camera video shows Bensalem police officers save man from fire
The three officers fought their way through thick, black smoke to save a man's life.
BENSALEM, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Newly-released body camera video shows the heroic actions of three Bensalem police officers who saved a man from his burning apartment.
Officers Steve Ambs, Kenneth Branford and Samuel Ladd spoke to Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub about the incident in a video posted on the D.A.'s Facebook page.
It all began at the Bucks Meadows Apartments in the 3100 block of Knights Road on August 25. The officers responded to the scene before firefighters and ran upstairs through the smoke.
"When I ran up the steps it was pitch black," said Ambs. "We were able to shine a flashlight and I saw the victim laying on the floor unconscious... as I reached in to see if I could wake the victim my arm started to burn from smoke."
Ambs ran back out to breathe since the smoke was thick, and to alert fellow officers there was a victim upstairs.
"We said 'all right, we got to go back in' and everybody grabbed a hand," said Officer Samuel Ladd.
"We were radioing the medics to get him taken care of as soon as possible," said Officer Kenneth Branford.
The trio successfully got the victim to safety and he was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. He has since been upgraded to stable condition.
We showed residents of the apartment complex the dramatic body camera footage. Jasmine Serrato was one of the residents evacuated from her building that day and remembers it vividly.
She says the perspective of the body camera video made it all the more surreal.
"I was actually impressed like, wow, they just walked in like that without equipment just to save somebody," she said. "I was also worried because I didn't want them to suffocate."
