By Geoff Fox
Tampa Tribune
HOLIDAY, Fla. — Four Pasco Sheriff’s Office deputies who pulled a screaming woman from a burning home early Monday exhibited “extreme heroism” during the intense rescue, sheriff’s Capt. James Mallo said at a news conference.
The deputies, one of whom has been on the job two weeks, responded to the call on Bradford Drive just after 2:15 a.m. Monday, Mallo said.
“It was the kind of dispatch where even the most tenured deputies would get butterflies,” Mallo said.
When deputies arrived, June Sickles, 88, was outside, but she said her daughter, Sharon Sickles, 51, was trapped inside, Mallo said. June Sickles wasn’t sure exactly where in the house her daughter was trapped.
Deputy James Collins, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps. and captured footage of the rescue on his body camera, has been with the sheriff’s office a couple of weeks, Mallo said.
The deputies are not specifically trained for fire rescue-type extractions, but Collins said he didn’t have time to be nervous.
Collins said he tried to enter the house through the front door but was thwarted by smoke and heat. He went around the house where he met Deputies Matt Pease and Eisa Kamal, and sheriff’s Cpl. Robert Mulkey.
The deputies didn’t find Sharon Sickles after breaking in one window, but busted through another one nearby and pulled her to safety.
Neither woman was badly injured, but the house sustained “significant damage,” Mallo said.
The deputies said they were patrolling in the area when they were dispatched to the call. They said Pasco Fire Rescue arrived moments after Sharon Sickles was removed from the home.
Collins was treated for smoke inhalation, but was OK to return to work, Mallo said.
Pease and Mulkey pulled Sickles from the house. Mulkey said he was most concerned about the woman being cut by broken glass as she was pulled through the window.
Like Collins, Mulkey deflected praise.
“I would expect that anyone would have done that for my family,” he said.
As soon as Sickles was removed from the home, she was examined on-scene by paramedics, Mulkey said.
Mallo characterized the deputies and corporal as “big heroes.”
“They should be upheld for that,” he said. “This is what it’s about.”
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