Five State College police officers who rushed to save a woman from her burning home last year were honored on Tuesday as Centre County Law Enforcement Officers of the Year.
Officers Dean Woodring, Larry Crawford and Ben Capozzi and Lt. Barrett Smith, along with Officer Cameron Earnest, who is no longer with the department, received the annual award presented by the Centre County District Attorney’s Office during a ceremony at the courthouse in Bellefonte.
“These officers exhibited the highest degree of bravery, placing their own lives at risk to save another,” District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said.
“Those actions of these officers reflect the bravery and courage that they are ready to engage in and exhibit every day they go to work. They go to work not knowing what might occur and in seconds of being notified of a life-threatening fire to a victim who was helpless, they put their own lives at risk and ensured that her life was saved.”
Centre Region Fire Director Steve Bair wrote in a letter to State College Police Chief John Gardner that he is “truly grateful” for the swift action of the officers, as well as public works employee John McClure, who is also a volunteer firefighter with Citizen’s Hook and Ladder Company in Milesburg.
Firefighters were on the scene in four minutes, but the large and fast-moving fire, which Bair previously said was caused by a kitchen appliance, meant the mobility-impaired resident likely did not have that long before a much more grievous outcome could have occurred.
The woman was treated for serious burn injuries but survived.
“This victim was given a second chance at life due to the efforts of these officers,” Gardner said.
Woodring was the first on the scene after a fire broke out at about 2 p.m. on March 18, 2021 at 801 Crabapple Court, where a caregiver had been unable to get the resident out of the house. Body camera footage released for the first time on Tuesday shows Woodring racing through thick smoke into the house. He was soon joined by fellow officers and McClure and over a tense three minutes the video depicts how they battled through heavy smoke and flames to first reach the woman and then get her to safety.
“I don’t even know if there was a thought process. It was more just reaction,” Woodring said. “I remember seeing the smoke and calling things out on the radio then just running in. To sit here and say I could recall what I was thinking though, I don’t even know if I was thinking. It was just a reaction. That’s part of this job. I knew what I had to do and I did it. Especially In this type of situation, you can’t preplan for that kind of thing. It’s a reaction knowing you have a task that has to be accomplished… so that’s what we did.”
Woodring entered the smoke-filled garage and when he opened the door to the house the intensity of the smoke and heat threw him backwards. He then entered the home, following the woman’s yells for help and using his flashlight to locate her through smoke that extended from the ceiling to floor.
He attempted to have the woman grab on to her walker, but she was unable to hold on as he tried to pull her forward, so Woodring radioed for more help. As he awaited their arrival, Woodring became overcome by the smoke and heat and had to go outside for oxygen and to clear his vision.
Smith, Crawford, Capozzi and McClure arrived and, followed by Woodring, they entered the garage. Smith and Capozzi attempted to go inside the house but soon after Capozzi was overcome by the smoke and heat and was forced back outside.
Earnest arrived next but he and the others were forced outside because of the conditions inside. As they went out for fresh air, the garage door began to collapse, requiring Earnest and Smith to force it back open.
Earnest then entered the house alone and located the resident. He was soon joined by the others and they began to successfully get the woman out of the house and into the garage. Before they could get her out, though, the group had to once more step away for fresh air.
As they dragged the woman to the sidewalk, the garage began to collapse and an explosion, later determined to be an oxygen canister, could be heard from inside the house.
At the sidewalk they were still in a cloud of smoke and each of the borough employees was “in heavy distress,” from the smoke and fire exposure, Cantorna said. Earnest, Crawford and Capozzi tended to the woman, providing her with supplemental oxygen and staying with her until EMS and fire personnel took over, while Woodring and Smith were directed by Sgt. Ted Hubler to a rally point away from the active fire, which had fully engulfed the house.
All of the borough employees were treated at Mount Nittany Medical Center for smoke inhalation.
“The five officers receiving recognition today epitomize the true meaning of what it is to protect and serve, to put the interests and welfare of others before themselves,” Gardner said. “Their actions during this incident were done at great personal risk to their own safety and they never wavered in performing their duty. Where most people run away from danger, these five officers ran toward danger, with their only thoughts being the welfare of the victim trapped inside this home.”
While the rescue lasted just over three minutes, Woodring said it felt much longer.
“It felt like an eternity,” he said. “There was so much that happened in that short amount of time but you don’t really think it was that short. At that moment it felt like almost an hour. It just goes to show you that when something like that happens, emotions are high, there’s just a lot to absorb, a lot to take in all at once and you don’t realize how bad things can get so quickly.”
A five-year veteran of the State College Police Department who previously spent three and half years as an officer in New York, Woodring said it was his first time running into a burning building.
“It was an experience I won’t forget, but if I had to do it again, I would do it again,” he said.
Cantorna said that while the award honors individual officers each year, it’s also about recognizing the broader work of Centre County law enforcement.
Similarly, Woodring was quick to pass on the praise to fellow officers.
“Awards are great and it’s nice to be recognized for doing a good job but I think the most important aspect of this is that there’s no difference between what I did that day and a lot of stuff police officers do every day. The only difference is the uniqueness of that call.
“Whether it be officers removing a spouse or significant other from a domestic [violence situation] or removing a child from a neglectful family or something as simple as just providing service or resources to someone that didn’t even know they existed, these officers are saving lives and their job is just as important as mine. What they do makes just as big of an impact as mine. They just do it in ways that don’t necessarily get the notoriety that this type of thing did. In my opinion, they’re just as if not more the hero than any of the officers who went to that fire and I think we can all probably agree on that.”
Tuesday wasn’t the first time the officers were honored for the rescue. Last year, the State College Police Department awarded them the Medal of Valor, and, along with McClure, they received the Life Saving Award from the borough.
It also wasn’t the first time State College officers have received the Centre County Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award. In fact, a State College officer has been among the honorees for each of the four years the award has been given since it was instituted by Cantorna’s office in 2019.
“We’re truly blessed here in Centre County with so many wonderful, deserving officers to select from,” Gardner said. “Oftentimes it’s very difficult to narrow the focus down to one or two particular officers. But in this particular case, I think it was a no-brainer, what these officers did on March 18, 2021.”
