MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) – Body camera footage captured the tense moments two Miami Beach Police officers raced into a burning home to rescue a legally blind woman who was unable to escape.
The footage shows Miami Beach Police K-9 Officer Alex Llaneras and Officer Ralph Vera at the front door the home of 62-year-old Shelley Spitz, located along Post Avenue, just after midnight, Monday.
The officers can then be seen talking to Spitz’s husband, as he was able to safely evacuate the residence.
“Come on out, come on out, come on out!” one of the officers can be heard telling the homeowner.
“Is there anybody else in the house?” one of the officers can be heard asking the resident.
The footage then shows the officers making their way inside the smoky home.
“Where are you?” Spitz can be heard saying before she coughs.
“I said, ‘Help me, help me.’ I couldn’t find the way out,” Spitz told 7News during an interview on Monday afternoon.
“Come on out! Follow the lights!” said one of the officers as held a flashlight.
One of the officers can be heard coughing as he continues walking further into the house.
“I think it was one of the policemen who came, and he extended his hand in the middle of the hallway,” said Spitz. “He grabbed my hands, and he led me out.”
The video then shows one of the officers grabbing Spitz by her hand and helping her out of the house.
“Just you two, correct?” an officer can be heard asking.
“Step outside, step outside,” one officer can be heard saying as Spitz walks out her front door.
The fire started in Spitz’s kitchen.
She said she was asleep when she awoke to the smoke.
Her husband was able to make it out safely, but she was disoriented and trapped.
“I’m feeling extremely lucky under the circumstances, loved by God,” she said, “because if God didn’t love me, he wouldn’t have woken me up.”
As the officers pulled Spitz outside, she can be heard saying, “I’m sorry.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” replied one of the officers. “That’s why God put me on this planet.”
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