TN Officer Pulls Disabled Woman from Exploding House
Columbia Police Corporal Allen Ervin was first to arrive at the scene. As soon as the 12-year veteran got out of his cruiser, his body cam recorded a major explosion that blew out the windows and pieces of the front of the house.
A Columbia (TN) Police officer is being hailed as a hero after he risked his own life to pull a woman from an exploding home.
It happened Early Friday morning when a home in the Riverside neighborhood caught fire and oxygen tanks inside the house began exploding.
Columbia Police Corporal Allen Ervin was first to arrive at the scene. As soon as the 12-year veteran got out of his cruiser, his body cam recorded a major explosion that blew out the windows and pieces of the front of the house, News 2 reports.
Ervin went into the flaming house and found 37-year-old April Chumley lying near the front door. Neighbors tell News 2 that the woman is severely disabled, non-communicative, and incapable of escaping the inferno on her own.
Ervin grabbed the woman and pulled her to safety, saving her life.
The woman’s parents, 57-year-old Lisa Melheim and 54-year-old Joe Hartsfield were able to get out of the home before the blast.
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