Officers brave apartment fire to rescue 2 in Tenn.
By Kevin McKenzie
The Commercial Appeal
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Two Memphis police officers rescued two people from a fire that broke out Wednesday in Whitehaven, a Memphis Fire Department spokesman said.
A man with second- and third-degree burns on his feet and legs and a 57-year-old woman who suffered smoke inhalation were in noncritical condition after the blaze at 4340 East Wind in the Peppertree apartments, said Fire Lt. Wayne Cooke.
Both police officers also were transported to hospitals in noncritical condition for treatment of smoke inhalation, Cooke said. Police officials and records identified the officers as Russell Cathey, 34, and Jeremy Mackey, 24, assigned to the Raines Station precinct.
Reported to the Fire Department at 9:41 a.m. Wednesday, the blaze struck a two-story apartment building.
The police officers, arriving before firefighters, entered both levels to rescue the residents, Cooke said. The older woman was on the second story. The two victims the officers rescued from the fire are mother and son, police officials said.
Two firefighters also were transported to a hospital for back and ankle injuries, he said.
Cathey's father, Perry Cathey, is a lieutenant for the Memphis Fire Department, officials said. Mackey joined the police force in February 2007 and Cathey in July 2008.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.
Copyright 2011 The Commercial Appeal, Inc.
