By Linda Trischitta and Joe Cavaretta
The Sun Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Terrified, Precious Corn lay on her bedroom floor, covering her face and praying to God as dark smoke seeped into her bedroom.
The Fort Lauderdale woman probably didn’t realize that an unlikely band of rescuers was on the way.
An off-duty firefighter, an on-duty cop and a group of neighborhood kids teamed up to save Corn, 29, from a fire that destroyed her home Tuesday at the Carter Park apartments, 720 NW 14th Terrace.
“They are the true definition of heroes,” said Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Greg May. “It was just an all-around community effort between the citizens, the firefighter and the police officer. A perfect storm came together, with a great outcome.”
Corn said a “boom” woke her about 8 a.m. Before long, smoke and flames built up outside her bedroom door. She tried to open a window, but it wouldn’t budge, so she called police.
About that time, Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Battalion Chief Mike Salzano was on his way to a meeting when he heard the fire call on his radio. He zipped through back streets near Corn’s home to avoid traffic on Sunrise Boulevard, then came upon “a column of smoke.”
“There is an alleyway right here,” he said at the scene, “and I noticed a bunch of kids trying to get into this back window. They were breaking the windows, frantically.”
Salzano was joined by an officer from Fort Lauderdale police.
“There were like three or four kids, saying there was somebody trapped,” Salzano said.
Though he didn’t have protective gear, Salzano went in the front door, got about 20 feet inside and had to turn back because of dense smoke.
“One of the kids gave me a shirt to put over my face. and I went back in for another search and tried to locate somebody trapped,” Salzano said.
Black smudges were smeared across the top of his head.
“I was married to the ground, the smoke was so heavy,” the firefighter said.
Though he was dressed in only a shirt and slacks, Salzano said: “This is what we’re trained for. We’re trained to save lives. It is an instinct, and there is no hesitation when that happens.”
The police officer was breaking some of the windows to let smoke escape as the neighborhood kids pulled Corn out of the burning building, Salzano said.
“They broke the window, pushed down my headboard and pulled me through,” Corn said of the children. “I’ve seen them around, but I don’t know their names.”
Trucks and firefighters arrived and put out the blaze.
The police officer, whose name was not released, was taken to a hospital for treatment. No one else was hurt.
Corn lives in the apartment with her toddler nieces. She said they had already left for school when the fire was reported.
The American Red Cross and the property manager were trying to help find other living arrangements for the family. The cause of the fire appears to be accidental, the fire department said.
Copyright 2016 the Sun Sentinel