TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — A Taylorsville mom is crediting a police officer for saving her life during a house fire Monday.
Kristen Webster lives not far from the police station, and that's a good after a fire broke out around 11 a.m.
“You know, I’m safe, my dog’s safe, my family is safe, and everything else can be replaced,” said Webster, who considers herself lucky to be alive as she was napping when the fire started
She said she didn’t hear the fire alarms until her dog woke her up with relentless barking. Webster opened her upstairs bedroom door briefly and then called 911.
“It was just black smoke, I couldn’t see anything,” said Webster.
Sgt. Ryan Carver, was was in area on a nearby call and rushed over to find Kristen yelling from the bedroom window.
“He just yelled, get out, get out! And I said I need to get my dog, and he said don’t worry about the dog,” said Webster.
Sgt. Carver only needed three kicks to boot the door down, get inside, and help Kristen escape. It wasn’t the first time Carver’s booted down a door, and not the first time he’s rescued someone from a house fire.
“The problem is the smoke goes up instead of down, and with her being upstairs there was considerable concern that the amount of smoke would prevent anyone from being able to get in,” said Carver
Because the smoke was about shoulder height, Carver ended up ducking down and crawling up the stairs.
“I’m sure if I would have been up there longer, I don’t know if the fire would have killed me, but I’m sure I would have had a panic attack or something to that effect for sure,” said Webster.
Carver helped Kristen make her way out of the house, but her puggle mocha was still inside.
“He came back into my burning house to save my dog; so very brave, I truly appreciate him,” Webster said.
Some might call what Sgt. Carver did heroic, but he said it’s in his job description.
“Honestly that’s what we do, for me for any police officer, firefighter, this is what we do on a daily basis,” Carver said.
Kristen believes a bag of powdered sugar heated up next to a lit candle, which caused an explosion and led to the fire. Due to its smaller particle size and greater surface area, powdered sugar can be flammable and even explosive.
Kristen remodeled her kitchen just a year ago and is now waiting to see what happens with her insurance.
