A Hartford Police officer saved a family from a burning house early Sunday morning.
Patrol Officer Jim Fierravanti rescued a mother, her son and their dog from their burning home on 68 School street just after 4 a.m.
“(Dispatch) told us there was people trapped inside and that’s my number one goal: to make sure the people get are brought to safety,” Fierravanti told NBC Connecticut during an exclusive interview.
Fierravanti ran to the back door, kicked it open and located the family and their dog.
“It wouldn’t have been safe to try and get through the front door, so I went around back," Fierravanti said. "Sure enough there was a door there, but it was locked and they couldn’t get out.”
The officer, who has been with the Hartford Police Department for eight years, said the family was stuck on the first floor and the fire was spreading towards them.
"(The mom) was panicking, the kid was holding the dog, the room was starting to fill up with smoke," Fierravanti said.
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Even though fire crews were on the way to the scene, Fierravanti said he made a "split-second" decision-- he kicked the door two times in order to get in the house and save the family.
When the fire department arrived, it took about 15 minutes to get the fire under control and 30 minutes to extinguish it. No injuries were reported.
“Somebody could possibly get hurt and your job is to make sure that they don’t," the officer said.
