By Craig Sailor
The News Tribune
ALGONA, Wash. — Dramatic body-camera video shows police officers approaching a burning Algona home early Sunday and urging two of its residents to jump from a second story.
All five people who were in the building eventually fled from the fully engulfed home.
Officers from the Algona and Pacific police departments arrived on the scene ahead of firefighters. They ran toward the flames.
“Is everybody out?” the officer whose body-worn camera was filming can be heard asking someone off-camera.
The person responds, “There’s two people in there.”
https://twitter.com/ValleyFire/status/1700852132667101530
Three of the building’s residents had already escaped, but two others were still upstairs. The video shows flames fully enveloping an outdoor staircase to the second floor.
“Please jump out the window!” the officer pleads. “Please listen to us. Put something around your face and jump out the window.”
Two people can then be seen emerging from the smoke on the building’s roof.
Two of the occupants were hospitalized with fire-related injuries, police said. A food smoker is believed to have caused the fire, police said.
“This was a very dangerous situation for those residents, and our officer had to respond quickly to help ensure everyone was evacuated safely,” Algona Police Chief James Schrimpsher said in a statement.
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