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Officer's body camera video shows heroic rescue of 91-year-man from burning Dunwoody home

They beat the fire department to the home by minutes -- and every one of those minutes counted.

DUNWOODY, Ga. — Two police officers in Dunwoody worked to save the life of a 91-year-old man who was trapped in a burning house.

When a 911 call came in for a house fire Sunday morning, three police officers just happened to be close by. They beat the fire department to the home by minutes -- and every one of those minutes counted.

When the officers arrived at the home, they found a woman coming up the street in a panic. She told them she locked herself out of the house, but her husband was still stuck inside. They knew they had to get into the house fast.

Sgt. Josh Sanders kicked in the door to try and find the man. Video shows one of the officers knocking it open with smoke quickly rushing out.

"Once the door was opened, we were greeted with black smoke just tunneling out of the house," Sanders said.  

Another officer ran to the other side of the house and was able to get in – finding the man unconscious, close to the door. 

"We stepped inside and started pulling him out," Sanders said. 

Officer Will Smith was barely able to find a pulse when they got to him, he said.

"He wasn't conscious or alert at all, we started monitoring his breathing more. We waited for fire(fighters) to get there, fire told us to try to get him away from the house a little bit more so we carried him away. At that time, we noticed that he had stopped breathing and Sgt. Sanders began CPR on him," Smith said. 

The fire department arrived soon after the officers got there, but the man was in such bad shape. He needed care immediately, authorities said.

While Sgt. Sanders said they're prepared to respond to any emergency, it's not usually a house fire. 

"It's really just instinctive at this point. We all take this job, you know we put on this badge and vest every single day knowing that we can be presented with dangerous situations," Sanders said. 

They worked with firefighters to get the man in the ambulance and comforted his wife as they cleared the scene. 

The 91-year-old man was revived and got to the hospital safely. Sanders and Smith said they're just grateful they were able to help. 

"We're first responders, you know, we're trying to get there first and make the best decision to make sure everybody's safe," Sanders said. 

Dunwoody officers have been calling the hospital to check in on the man every day, and said they're relieved that, so far, he's doing OK.

You can watch the video from the officer's body camera below.

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