Texas police officers rescue man in wheelchair from house fire

[video 1]

Early Wednesday morning, three River Oaks police officers responded to a 911 call in Fort Worth, Texas.

A house was on fire — and a man was trapped inside.

Family members who’d escaped the fast-spreading fire told the officers that they couldn’t get John Sauer, 53, out of the house safely.

Sauer had a stroke four years ago and uses a wheelchair.

"My dad, who is disabled, I’m trying to help him get out of his bed into his wheelchair, but he falls out of the wheelchair," Sauer’s son, Joseph, told NBC Dallas Forth Worth. “He was too heavy for me alone. I was the only guy in the house, he weighs about 265, 270 pounds. It’s impossible to get him back in his wheelchair.”

Instead of waiting for fire crews, the officers immediately took action, climbing through a broken bedroom window to reach him. They were able to lift Sauer and push him out of the window, just as the heat was becoming unbearable.

"He was hollering ‘Help me! Help me!’" Officer Nathan Wilson told the Star-Telegram. “I used an ASP [tactical baton] to break a window, but when I saw him, I didn’t think he would fit through.”

"It was a rush," recalled Sergeant Steve Nance, one of the three officers who saved the man. “We’re glad we got him out. All the officers did what they had to do to get him out before it got any worse.”

"They didn’t ask questions, they went with it and got to action and got him out as quickly and swiftly before he lost consciousness," Joseph Sauer told WFAA.

CBS Dallas Fort Worth reported that Sauer was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation and minor burns. Officer Timothy Whitley’s right arm was cut by the broken window glass and he also went to the hospital for treatment.

"We’re just glad he’s out. The house is gone but we’re glad he’s out. All of our officers were lightheaded. We’re all thankful we got him out of the house. It could have been a lot worse," said Sergeant Nance.

While the home was gutted, everyone else inside made it to safety without injury.

At the hospital, Sauer was reunited with his rescuers.

[video 2]

"Thank you, all of you," a weeping Sauer told the officers from his hospital bed. "I appreciate y’all bringing me out. I’ve got cuts and scrapes on me, but that ain’t nothing compared to what I could have had."

"Without the help of the officers, I don’t want to imagine what would’ve happened," Joseph Sauer said Wednesday morning. “It would’ve been way worse. But everybody got saved, that’s the main thing. Everything else can be rebuilt, human life can’t.”

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.