MATTOON, Ill. (WAND) — On Saturday, Mattoon Police Officer Anthony Roley saw a fire break out in a home while on patrol and immediately sprang into action. In the five minutes he had before the home collapsed due to fire damage, Officer Roley saved 3 adults, 5 children, 1 service dog, and a cage of hamsters.
Officer Roley explained he was on patrol on North 27th Street on Saturday, November 22nd when he saw smoke and followed it to a fire erupting out of the roof of a home on Shelby Avenue. Once he arrived, he called for backup and informed dispatch at 3:40 a.m. "I knew I had to go up to the door, try to alert whoever was inside. Figure out how many people we had and try to get them out as quickly as possible. I just knew I had to do that. I couldn't stand by." Roley said.
Once he approached the front door, he informed the residents, who had been unaware of the fire in their attic. He ushered the adults and children ages 1,3,4 and 17 outside, helping to bring a 7-year-old boy outside of the home. "He was scared. He was frantic. And he said...he's going to die...So I grabbed him by the hand." said Roley.
After bringing the children and adults outside, the homeowner informed Roley that someone else was still inside. "She said there was one more person in the back, which was a man that was blind." explained Roley. "At this point, you could see the flames in the room, kind of coming down from the ceiling area. So, I grabbed onto his hand and said, hey, I'm going to lead you out. Follow me."
Once he led the man outside, he noticed that the house was close to collapsing. In his first trip inside, he had noticed a dog run to the back of the home. Roley was able to bring out a cage of hamsters and a service dog in a cage, with the help of other officers on-scene. Unfortunately, they were unable to reach the second dog, as they realized the structure was close to collapsing. "There was something that came off of the roof because it kind of hit me on the shoulder, and I remember kind of swatting at it, and I think it was a piece of the roofing as it came down." Roley said.
Barely a minute after running back outside and moving his vehicle so that firefighters could begin their work as they arrived on-scene, the roof caved in. "As he's walking back to the house, you see fire coming out the roof." explained Mattoon Fire Chief Jeff Hilligoss. "As he's approaching the roof has collapsed and fire is now rolling out of that front door that he just came out of a minute and a half prior."
It took Mattoon firefighters 6 hours to finish fighting the fire and ensuring there were no more hotspots. It wasn't until Chief Hilligoss was conducting the fire investigation that he realized what Roley had done. "There on scene, [other officers] did not mention a single word, of, his heroic actions, that he had taken. It wasn't until Monday when the police chief contacted me asking if I knew." explained Hilligoss.
Roley said he was just doing his job. "Right place, right time. And I did the right thing -- that's all. It was very simple." But Hilligoss deemed his actions heroic, and that he deserved commendation for his bravery. "It is no question in my mind that...his actions saved lives that night."
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but Chief Hilligoss tells WAND News that the fire was accidental in nature and possibly an electrical fire. However, they cannot say with 100% certainty until the investigation is completed.
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