Officer Saves Toddler From House Fire In Kokomo

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A family in Kokomo is incredibly grateful after a police officer came across a house fire while on patrol and saved the lives of a toddler and her babysitter.

“2 o’clock, got a phone call, saying my house is on fire,” explained the toddler Avery’s mom, Tiffany Brown.

The fire was burning the garage, while Avery and her babysitter (Tiffany’s sister) were asleep upstairs.

Although the garage is detached, it sits very close to the home. They were not far from the flames, however, the smoke detectors did not go off to alert the two.

“My stairs are right there. There’s no way they would have been able to get out,” Brown said.

“I just think what could have been,” said Avery’s grandmother, Stacy Giesen, “if the cop hadn’t drove by and seen the flames.”

Thankfully someone did drive by – Police Sgt. Joe Culbertson who is now a hero!

“Firefighters later, they told me, they’re like, ‘Look. The officer was just patrolling. He seen your flames and pounded on the door, came in the house, got her out,’ like, GI Joe style just ran in there and got her out. It was awesome,” Brown said.

Fellow officers say that Sgt. Culbertson didn’t hesitate to help. He went in to rescue the two before firefighters even got here.

“He acted fast. They said as soon as he seen it, he radioed the fire station and he went in the house, like he didn’t even. No vehicles were here. My car wasn’t even here. So he still made sure everything was ok. And that’s a real hero,” Brown said. “He just came on in like, ‘I am here to save the day!'”

Brown says that Avery was playing in the ambulance when she arrived, very excited to see fire trucks, and thankful to see her Mom.

The family members are extremely grateful.

“Thank you,” Giesen said through tears. “Thank you very much.”

“I just want to thank him from the bottom of my heart for saving my baby for saving my whole life,” Brown added. “I don’t know who he is but I appreciate him and I’ll appreciate him forever.“