This isn't a happy ending, but the effort by the sergeant and the tow truck operator deserve recognition:
- Two young children were killed in an early morning apartment fire on the Far South Side after one of them and a 6-year-old brother tried to warm up a pizza on top of the stove, officials say.
The 6-year-old and his pregnant mother were able to make it out but "there was a problem with the door" and she couldn't get back in, Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said. A police sergeant and a tow truck driver tried to reach the children but couldn't, he said. - The sergeant and the tow truck driver then forced their way into the apartment, Langford said.
"The sergeant hurt his shoulder, apparently ramming the door," Langford said. "The tow truck driver had a fire extinguisher and tried to put the fire out."
But heavy smoke and flames drove them back, he said.
The sergeant, a father of twins himself, and the tow driver suffered smoke inhalation and lord only knows what mental anguish in their immediate futures. They did everything humanly possible, but the deck was stacked against them. Both deserve high praise for their efforts. Many people wouldn't have even made it in the door.