First responders honored for saving lives of those trapped during Glendale apartment fire

FOX 10's Nicole Garcia reports.

GLENDALE, Ariz. - It was a situation that could have ended in tragedy, two men trapped inside an apartment building that was on fire, but thanks to a couple of quick-thinking first responders, they were able to make it out alive.

An apartment complex near 61st Avenue and Bethany Home Road in Glendale caught fire one night in September, causing extensive damage.

A rookie Glendale Police officer and a Glendale firefighter teamed up to rescue two people from a second-story unit.

Officer Ty Nowatski's body camera was recording as he arrived, the first one on the scene.

Residents on the ground pointed up to where two people were trapped just as firefighters pulled up.

Firefighter Kyle Knight didn't say a word, just grabbed a ladder and positioned it under the second-story window.

"They were in a back bedroom, they would've had possibly a few more minutes to get somebody's attention or possibly jump out the windows to save themselves," said Kyle Knight, Glendale firefighter.

"I wasn't planning on going up but he needed some help cause the ladder was far down from the window and he needed some help getting his foot on there," said Officer Ty Nowatski with Glendale Police.

The trapped residents were able to climb down to safety. Then without skipping a beat, both the officer and firefighter took off to continue with their duties.

"We made a timely decision, again thank god the officer was there to help assist me, if not I would've probably been the one trying to help the people out the window and it would've delayed getting water on the fire and that's what our ultimate goal was is to get water on the fire as soon as possible," said Knight.