WATCH: Melbourne Police Officer Robert Smith Talks About Rescuing Woman from Apartment Fire
By Chris Bonanno // January 31, 2020
Melbourne High resource officer was on his way to work, woman taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – A Melbourne High School resource officer on his way to work at the school helped a pair of residents escape from an apartment complex on the 100 block of Fee Avenue on Thursday.
According to the Melbourne Fire Department, a fire broke out at the apartment complex around 7:40 a.m.
Per Melbourne Police Department spokesperson Marc Claycomb, Robert Smith, a school resource officer at Melbourne High School, was on his way to work when he heard reports of a brush fire in the area.
When he arrived at the scene, he noted that it was not a brush fire but rather a fire at a residence.
Claycomb added that Smith saw “thick, black acrid smoke” from the fire and immediately went to respond to the fire prior to assistance arriving from the Melbourne Fire Department.
He immediately sought to assist those in need, using a fire extinguisher, Claycomb said, to make it viable relative to flames and heat to assist a woman out of one unit of the building.
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Smith is also credited with helping to open a door for a man seeking to evacuate his unit as well.
Two units at the complex are considered “a total loss,” with damage estimates around $100,000, per the Melbourne Fire Department.
Both Smith and the woman were taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center, the Melbourne Fire Department said.
The MFD also notes that State Fire Marshal’s Office has been called in to investigate.
The Red Cross has also been notified in case residents are in need of assistance, they add.
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