Police Drive by Flames, Launch Sudden Rescue in Kansas

Their night was almost over.

Just one more stop and Jessie Cornwell and Drew Seiler, two plainclothes police officers on a special assignment, could clock out and head home.

But as they cruised down McLean Boulevard, Cornwell looked out his window and saw flames rippling on the back of a house.

They had no idea six people were sleeping inside.

By instinct, the officers sped to the house and radioed in about the fire.

It was 3:30 a.m.

The streets around the burning home at 2021 S.Osage were empty.

Cornwell and Seiler pounded on the door. They rapped on the windows.

"No one would come to the door," Seiler said.

Cornwell kicked down a section of 6-foot cedar fence and ran into the backyard.

Avoiding the flames that spread across the back of the house, he hit every window he could.

Still nothing.

In desperation, the officers kicked in the front door and entered the house.

There was smoke in the room, but not much, Seiler said.

He made his way to a bedroom where he woke up a man and woman and grabbed up a young boy.

When they got outside, the woman said three other people were sleeping in the basement.

Seiler looked at Cornwell, and they went back in.

The smoke had thickened. They heard the electrical lines popping in the backyard.

"The main concern was to get people out," Cornwell said.

They ran in and came out with the three others.

The burning house was empty.

Then officers kicked in one more door -- at a neighbor's house threatened by the flames -- and evacuated the people there, too.

"I think we did what anybody else walking down the street would have done," Cornwell said.

The fire caused an estimated $25,000 damage to the exterior of the house and another $10,000 to contents inside, said Lt. Darren Mullen, an investigator for the Wichita Fire Department.

Investigators traced the fire to some discarded charcoal the homeowner used to grill dinner that night, Mullen said.

After tossing some excess charcoal out, the homeowner wet the coals down, Mullen said. But some smoldering embers were in contact with the deck, and hours later they ignited.

Attempts to reach the family Tuesday were unsuccessful. But the home is insured, and the American Red Cross is assisting the family.

Distributed by the Associated Press