Off-Duty Rookie Cop Risks Life To Save Children Trapped In House Fire

ZEPHYRHILLS, FL — A Plant City police officer and Pasco County firefighters are being hailed as heroes after rescuing two autistic children from a home fire in Zephyrhills on Wednesday,

Just before 8:30 p.m., Pasco County Fire Rescue 911 received a call that a home on Doe Path Court in Zephyrhills was on fire and children were trapped inside, according to Pasco Fire Rescue public information officer Corey Dierdorff.

Plant City police Officer Michal Pietrusinski, who lives in the area, was out for an evening walk with his fiancé when he noticed an unusual amount of smoke coming from his neighbor's home.

Moments later, Pietrusinski said he heard the screams of a frantic mother running to the house with one of her children, a daughter who is autistic but is able to communicate verbally. Pietrusinski was aware there were two autistic, non-verbal boys in the family, and realized they may be trapped inside the home.

Pietrusinski and his fiancé, Sharon Navarrro, found a garden hose and quickly approached the home's front door. The children's mother opened the door, and the couple entered the home where they said they encountered thick smoke, causing them to get down on the floor to avoid being overcome.

While crawling low with one hand, Pietrusinski sprayed water on a couch fully engulfed in flames with the other while yelling to the boys, "If you can hear me, come towards my voice."

Pietrusinski didn't hear a response, so he found a T-shirt, soaked it in water and placed the wet shirt over his mouth to help him breathe.

At that point, he began systematically searching the home for the boys. After several attempts to find the trapped children, he spotted one of the boys and quickly took him outside to his mother.

Aware that the fire was growing quickly, Pietrusinski asked the mother if she had any idea where the third child might be. With her suggestion, Pietrusinski attempted to enter the home again.

At that point, the fire had grown much larger, and Pietrusinski attempted to extinguish more of the flames with the hose as Pasco County Fire Rescue arrived on the scene and joined in the search for the child.

While firefighters were searching for the third child, Pietrusinski told paramedics about the first child he pulled from inside the home, and they began to perform a medical assessment.

Pasco County Fire Rescue Engine 16 crew members, led by Capt. Craig Harris with firefighter Timothy McCormick and probationary firefighter Joshua Casal, working only his fifth shift on the job, found the missing child in a bathroom shower with the water running and dense smoke around him.

Firefighters requested a medical helicopter for the child, who was conscious and breathing.

Pietrusinski was also taken by ambulance to the hospital for evaluation.

Both Pietrusinski and the child have since been released from the hospital.

Pietrusinski was sworn in as a Plant City police officer on June 10 as part of the department's new officer sponsorship program.

Pietrusinski is a Polish immigrant who served 7 1/2 years in the U.S. Navy and four years as a search-and-rescue swimmer.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.