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Jamestown Police officer who saved family from burning home: 'I was just happy to help'

Officer Mark Conklin saved multiple people from a house fire by catching them from a second-floor window.

JAMESTOWN, N.Y. — Just after midnight Monday, Jamestown Police Officer Mark Conklin, a four-year veteran of the department, saved multiple people from a house fire by catching them from a second-floor window. 

Jamestown Police posted the body camera footage to their Facebook page and praised Conklin's bravery.

"I was just happy to help, and happy to be in the right place at the right time," Conklin told 2 On Your Side on Thursday.

It started as a normal day for Conklin. He was on a service call on Baker Street when someone flagged him down about a possible house fire on William Street.

"I had been walking back to my patrol car, and I came across a resident that was actually running, and he was pointing in the air, and I looked and I saw thick black smoke, and right away you knew it was something serious," Conklin said.

In the body camera footage, you see Officer Conklin sprinting toward the fire. "I heard some yelling. I had to jump a fence to get over there," he said.

Conklin rescued a young boy from the porch of the house, then looked up and saw a mother and child on the roof. He caught both of them after they jumped from the roof and brought them to safety without injury.

"I can say that I have seen many examples of heroism over the years by officers," the Facebook post read. "After watching the video of this incident and speaking to others involved, I can say that the actions of Officer Conklin were, to say the least, one of the most outstanding examples of bravery, heroism, and exemplary service I have seen."

A GoFundMe page has raised more than $10,000 to help the family, who are said to have lost everything.

 

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