By Molly Morrow
Beacon-News (Aurora, Ill.)
AURORA, Ill. — An Aurora officer has been recognized by the Aurora Police Department for his role in helping seven residents evacuate during a house fire in late September on the city’s West Side.
Officer Justin Cebulski helped ensure all occupants exited the home, including a man who was asleep in a bedroom while the fire spread, the police department said in a news release Wednesday.
The fire occurred in the morning on Sept. 21 at a home in the 1100 block of North Randall Road in Aurora, officials said. It ultimately resulted in the home being deemed uninhabitable due to fire damage, displacing a number of adult residents. No civilian or firefighter injuries were reported.
According to the Aurora Police Department, Cebulski arrived before the fire department personnel. Body-worn camera footage provided by the department shows Cebulski speaking to the residents who were leaving the home to determine whether there were additional people inside.
Establishing that several residents were still inside, despite a language barrier, Cebulski went on to call into the home to alert those who remained in the residence, the body-worn camera footage shows. He continued speaking with its occupants as they evacuated, working to account for everyone who had been inside.
Then, learning that one person remained inside, Cebulski entered the home and kicked down a door, the footage shows. In doing so, he located a man who had been sleeping, according to the department, and assisted him out of the home.
All occupants of the home were outside by the time firefighters arrived, officials said.
“Cebulski kept working to make sure everyone was accounted for,” Aurora Police Chief Matt Thomas said in the news release on Wednesday. “We’re grateful for his steady focus and decisive action, and proud of the care he showed for the people in that home.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the Aurora Fire Department , the news release said.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
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