5 children, 3 adults rescued from Mattoon house fire by police officer

MATTOON, Ill. (WAND) - A Mattoon police officer is being recognized for heroism after he helped save five children, three adults, and family pets including a service dog from a house fire.

Mattoon Police Officer AJ Roley was on patrol Saturday when he noticed a home in the 2800 block of Shelby on fire.

Officer Roley did not see anyone outside, so he went to the front door to get inside.

He was able to warn the people inside about the fire and help them get to safety. This included three adults and five children, aged 1,3,4,7 and 17.

One of the adults was blind. As he led the person out of the house by the hand, the fire began dropping through the ceiling behind him.

Officer Roley, with the help of other officers, then re-entered the house to retrieve a pet cage that contained hamsters, as well as a service dog that was in a cage, and safely removed them.

"There is no doubt in my mind that without the actions of Officer Roley, this would have been a fatal fire," Mattoon Fire Department Chief Jeff Hilligoss said.