Officer describes intense fire, rescue efforts after saving residents in Chester County
"If we didn't go, what could've happened could've been catastrophically bad," one officer said.
OXFORD, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- Two Chester County police officers are being hailed as heroes for helping to get residents out of their homes after a four-alarm fire burned down multiple buildings and apartments in Oxford.
Bodycam footage from the Oxford Police Department shows the officers run into the burning apartments and help get neighbors to safety.
Officers Scott Richards and Karlianna Eller ran into the flames knowing there were lives to save.
"You're smelling the smoke, you're hearing the crackle and the pops of the fire, and you can taste it," Richards described. "You can taste the smoke. You can feel the heat as I'm going past the windows and the wall."
The four-alarm fire broke out in the warehouse of Dubarry of Ireland around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday in Oxford. It quickly spread to four more businesses and the apartments above where 25 families lived.
"It's 11:30 at night. Pretty much everybody is going to be home. A lot of people are going to be sleeping," said Richards.
About 90 people lost everything they owned. The cause of that fire is still under investigation.
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"We have to move really fast and try and get these folks out and make sure everybody is going to be safe because a fire that caliber is going to move quick," he said.
That quick action from Officers Eller and Richards, who has been a firefighter since he was 14 years old, saved lives.
"If we didn't go, what could've happened could've been catastrophically bad," he said.
What's left on South 3rd Street is a tower of rubble; homes and businesses are reduced to brick, but what also remains is a strong community ready to rebuild.
"The community of Oxford is by far one of the most tight-knit I've seen in, in my life," said Richards.
South 3rd Street reopened on Saturday after being closed since Wednesday night.
The community is coming together to take care of their neighbors. A nonprofit has put everyone who lost their homes in hotels for now and is working to find them permanent housing.
