Watch: Goodyear, AZ, Cop Saves Fire Captain's Daughter from Burning Car
An Arizona police officer made a dramatic rescue of a firefighter's daughter this week, braving raging flames to pull her from a burning vehicle.
The rescue happened just after 4:20 a.m. Sunday when Goodyear Police Officer Dakota Berry came upon multi-vehicle crash after booking a suspect, the Arizona Republic reports. When he reached the scene, Berry found flames consuming a vehicle that still had a woman inside, signaling for help.
Berry quickly grabbed a tool from his cruiser and smashed the driver's side window. He then pulled the woman out of the vehicle by her ankles and began traffic control once she was safe.
"Just doing my job," Berry said at a Wednesday press conference. "I have no doubt that any other officers, within this community and this department, would've done the same thing."
Berry was seriously burned trying to put out the vehicle fire, and his fingers were still bandaged during his news conference. The woman, who Berry later found out was the daughter of a Goodyear firefighter, is in critical condition at a burn center, and she is expected to survive.
"Even in the face of unimaginable pain and challenge, her resilience shines through," Goodyear Fire Capt. Simeon Cheatham said in a statement about his daughter, thanking everyone for their support.
Although Berry was resistant to accepting the label of hero, his department praised him for his actions.
"We are deeply proud and humbled by this extraordinary act of bravery," the agency stated. "This is what it means to serve and what it means to be family."
