Video: Wash. police yell for occupants to jump from burning house

"Please jump out the window!": Body-worn camera footage shows officers trying to rescue occupants inside a burning Algona house

By Craig Sailor
The News Tribune

ALGONA, Wash. — Dramatic body-camera video shows police officers approaching a burning Algona home early Sunday and urging two of its residents to jump from a second story.

All five people who were in the building eventually fled from the fully engulfed home.

Officers from the Algona and Pacific police departments arrived on the scene ahead of firefighters. They ran toward the flames.

"Is everybody out?" the officer whose body-worn camera was filming can be heard asking someone off-camera.

The person responds, "There's two people in there."

VRFA crews and @southkingfire are on scene of a working fire on the 700 block of Celery Ave in Algona. Two patients have been transported to Harborview. Red Cross has been dispatched for 7 adults and 1 child. pic.twitter.com/2EcUGJP8Xt
— Valley Regional Fire (@ValleyFire) September 10, 2023

Three of the building's residents had already escaped, but two others were still upstairs. The video shows flames fully enveloping an outdoor staircase to the second floor.

"Please jump out the window!" the officer pleads. "Please listen to us. Put something around your face and jump out the window."

Two people can then be seen emerging from the smoke on the building's roof.

Two of the occupants were hospitalized with fire-related injuries, police said. A food smoker is believed to have caused the fire, police said.

"This was a very dangerous situation for those residents, and our officer had to respond quickly to help ensure everyone was evacuated safely," Algona Police Chief James Schrimpsher said in a statement.