CHICAGO _ A woman was screaming and holding three young children as she ran toward the Chicago police officers just after midnight on the West Side.
"There's a fire! There's still family inside," she yelled.
Harrison District police officer Jason Fong and his partner ran into the burning home in the 3900 block of West Congress Parkway in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on Monday. Two other officers about half a block away also went into the home to make sure no one else was trapped.
"The fire was intense," said Fong, 37, recounting the experience at an early morning news conference Tuesday. "I could feel the flames. It was kind of like burning and irritating our faces. It was very hard to see."
Officer Julio Ruiz, 45, said he was concerned more children could be inside. The first woman's children appeared to be 5, 2 and 1 month. He chased after an older woman who was trying to run back inside to find relatives.
The officers pushed through thick smoke filling the two flat. They checked under beds, on the porch and in the basement before running to safety themselves.
The officers were taken to Rush University Medical Center for minor smoke inhalation. The residents of the building were displaced but not injured.
The officers said they were inundated with praise from family and friends who called them heroes. But they said they were simply doing their job.
"We're hit with many split-second decisions on our job and this was one of the ones, and we just happened to be there," said Officer Raymond Baretto, 36.
Fong said he was thinking of his own children when he rushed into the home.
"I believe that everybody in the Chicago Police Department would do the same if they were in the same situation because we all have families," Fong said. "I'm hoping that any police officer who was the first responder on scene would go and help any of our family members."
