Fire chief: Lancaster police officers rescued children from burning home

Two Lancaster police officers entered a burning home to save two children before firefighters could get to the scene, according to fire officials.

The blaze was called in Friday night at a home on Central Avenue in Lancaster, according to Chief Chuck Small of the Lancaster Fire Department. Firefighters saw flames in the back of the house when they arrived, and two officers with the Lancaster Police Department had entered the home through a front window to pull two children from a bedroom in the front part of the home.

“They actually had the children out on our arrival,” Small said.

No injuries were reported to the children, the officers or the firefighters, Small said. The blaze started at the back of the home, but the cause remains under investigation.

“We don’t promote police officers going into structure fires,” Small said. “But this is a case where it actually paid off. The results could have been disastrous had they not taken the action they did.”

It’s not clear how many people lived in the home, but Small said the American Red Cross is assisting the home’s occupants.

This story was originally published April 25, 2016 at 5:30 PM with the headline "Fire chief: Lancaster police officers rescued children from burning home."