Chicago Police Officers Honored For Saving Women From Fire
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Seven Chicago police officers were honored Tuesday for rescuing two women from a house fire in the South Shore neighborhood two months ago.
The Chicago Police Memorial Foundation named the two sergeants and five patrol officers the Officers of the Month for July.
At a ceremony in the West Loop, the officers said they don't consider themselves heroes; they said what they did was a natural response to help, whether in uniform or not.
"We don't feel like heroes. We just feel like we were there at the right time; at the right place at the right time," Chicago Police Sgt. Carlos Sanchez said.
Sanchez and his fellow offices ran into a burning home near 80th and Muskegon on May 9, after Charles Morbley flagged them down, and told them his wife and disabled daughter were still inside the house.
The officers kicked down the front door and found Morbley's wife inside, and when firefighters showed up a short time later, they were able to pull his daughter out from under a pile of debris.
While searching for the two women, the officers had to crawl due to the heavy smoke inside, and at one point go outside to catch their breath, but they never gave up.
"I think, basically, my instincts, along with the fellow officers, we just did our due diligence as far as to go in and try to save a life, because the outcome could have been severe," Officer Deonvelle Lamon said.
Morbley's daughter, Sharice, who has multiple sclerosis, suffered severe burns and smoke inhalation injuries, and was treated at the University of Chicago trauma center. Unfortunately, she died about two weeks later from her injuries.
One of the sergeants who helped save the women suffered permanent injuries to his respiratory system due to inhaling dangerously hot smoke.
