FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Video shows a Florida deputy rescuing a 3-year-old boy from a house fire Sunday.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, first responders arrived at a home along the Palm Coast in northeast Florida where a neighbor said a fire had broken out in the kitchen. It wasn’t immediately clear if the three residents, whom the neighbor hadn’t seen that day, were at home.
The fire spread from the kitchen stove to the cabinets and filled the home with black smoke, according to the sheriff’s office.
Body cam video shows K-9 Deputy First Class Marcus Dawson knocking on the front and back door with no response. While on the back patio, Dawson saw the 3-year-old boy in a bedroom and immediately got inside to get him out.
“I want my mom,” the little boy said when Dawson asked him where his mother was.
The sheriff’s office said the child was fearfully hiding from the smoke under some blankets and watching a cartoon. After finding the child, Dawson carried the boy out of the home to get medical attention.
“Without DFC Dawson immediately running toward danger, even without a safety respirator, this could have been a much different outcome,” Sheriff Rick Staly said.
The sheriff’s office said the child’s father told deputies he left to pick up dinner and left the child sleeping at home with an older sibling. No injuries were reported.
At this time, fire officials believe the house fire was accidental and cooking related.