Deputies save Raisin Township man from burning residence

At 3:03 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 26, Lenawee County Sheriff Corporal Alex Perdue and Deputy Mike Osborne responded to a 911 call at 2323 Occidental Hwy. in Raisin Township, which ended with the deputies pulling township resident John Williams from a house fire. The call, which was a dead line, was something the dispatcher gets 15 to 20 times a shift, according to Perdue. The dispatcher that night was Marissa Sutherland. “She gets these types of calls several times a shift — I’d say about 15-20 calls a shift come in where its as pocketed dial or these phone calls that we’re not sure what’s going on,” said Perdue. “Her instincts were absolutely sharp that this one was a little bit different. She decided to get cars moving as fast as she could. Those seconds were important later.”Osborne responded to the call from the area of US 223 and Sand Creek Hwy. while Perdue was a shift supervisor at the department in Adrian. Upon arriving at the scene almost simultaneously, Osborne headed to the rear of the residency while Perdue tried to enter the front door. Perdue said the screen door was warm and when he opened it, smoke “immediately poured out.” Osborne said that at the rear of the residence, there was already a working structure fire and flames had broken out of a sliding glass doors. While Osborne tried to find entry at the back of the house, Perdue crawled into the home. He said there was about two feet of clear air at the floor and that he was able to make it about 15 to 20 feet into the living room before being forced out from the smoke. Perdue said he could hear moaning but couldn’t pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Osborne was able to get into the garage but the inside door was locked and fearing a backdraft went back outside to the sliding glass doors. By that point the room the sliding doors entered into was engulfed in flames. Osborne went back to the garage, pulled out his baton, broke the door window and unlocked the door. Osborne added that he saw the man mostly unconscious about five to six feet into what appeared to be a bedroom. “You couldn’t see very well in front of you at all,” Osborne said. “The smoke was very thick, very heavy, very toxic smelling.” Perdue noted that there was a fire extinguisher lying next to him. At that point Osborne grabbed Williams’ legs and began pulling him out while calling for Perdue. When Perdue arrived to assist, the two carried Williams out of the house. Once they’d removed Williams from the house, it was fully engulfed in flames three minutes later, according to a press release from the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office. “Had we had waited, it would have been that much more difficult to go in and attempt to locate him, attempt to rescue him and perform any first aid that may be necessary,” said Osborne. “It rejuvenates your faith in why we do the job we’re doing,” said Perdue. “There’s a lot of recent negativity on law enforcement and the fact is all of us come out here and want to do this job. We do this job because we love this job. These are the good days.“We chose this line not to be heroes. This is what we do. He saved his own life for making the call. From Dispatcher Sutherland on down to us, we had the ability to go in and finish it so that it didn’t end in tragedy.”“A lot of credit goes to Mr. Williams,” said Osborne. “It looked like he attempted to fight the fire on his own. There was a fire extinguisher by him when we went to the house, but when he was obviously overcome he made the effort to call 911 and in that regard he helped save himself.”Williams was taken to University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor. A press release from the Raisin Township Assistant Fire Chief Eddie Mathis listed estimated damage at $150,000. The release noted the fire was under control by 3:44 a.m. with the fire crew clearing the scene at 10:51 a.m. The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Adrian, Adrian Township, Palmyra Township, Ridgeway Township, Tecumseh and Madison Township Fire Departments assisted Raisin Township Fire Department at the scene. Lenawee Community Ambulance paramedics were on the scene as well.Perdue has been with the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office for 15 years while Osborne has been a deputy at the office for more than 13 years. Both officers were treated for smoke inhalation, but were cleared for duty.