Philadelphia police sergeant carries man to safety during high‑rise hotel fire

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A Philadelphia police sergeant climbed 12 floors of a South Philadelphia hotel to evacuate guests during a fire, ultimately carrying a double amputee down the stairwell to safety as smoke and alarms filled the building.

The fire broke out on the ground floor of the Holiday Inn on Penrose Avenue, prompting Sgt. Joseph Boyle and hotel security to begin clearing each floor. Body camera video shows them going door to door as alarms blared.

"The fire is concentrated in this area here," Boyle said while assessing the scene.

As other officers evacuated the lobby, Boyle continued upward to ensure no one was left behind. On the 12th floor, he encountered a man in a wheelchair.

"And at the last hour, a man wheels out in a wheelchair. And I thought, 'Oh no,'" Boyle said. With the elevators shut down due to the fire, he told the man, "Hey, be prepared. I'm going to carry you out."

Boyle said the man was thankful and cooperative.

"I put him on my back, and we started the descent," he said.

Asked how long it took, Boyle said, "Not as long as you'd think. Gravity was working for us."

Boyle had recently returned from a military deployment in Africa and said carrying extra weight was familiar, but the narrow stairwells and the lack of urgency from some guests made the evacuation more challenging.

"People weren't taking it as seriously as they should. I think we all are guilty of just assuming that it's a false alarm," he said.

By the time Boyle reached the lobby, firefighters were on scene. The man he carried was safely waiting in Boyle's patrol car.

It remains unclear how the fire started. Boyle said he does not view himself as a hero.

"I for sure would not consider myself a hero at all, as I was. But I have seen some officers do some heroic things. We are usually the first people on scene, we're already out driving around, and the preservation of life is always the overall mission goal. This wasn't the first time that I had pulled somebody out of a fire. I hope it's the last."