Austin police officer honored for saving man from February house fire – Austin Daily Herald
Austin police officer honored for saving man from February house fire
Published 7:01 pm Monday, March 3, 2025
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Austin Police Officer Damien Schroeder was honored with a Letter of Commendation for his efforts at an early February house fire. during which he was able to pull a resident to safety as well as helped evacute another family. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin Police Officer Damien Schroeder is pictured with Austin Police Chief David McKichan Monday night after he was honored with a Letter of Commendation for his efforts at an early February house fire. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Firefighters from Austin and Brownsdale stand outside the burned-out hull of one side of a duplex after the fire was doused Tuesday afternoon. One was taken to the hospital and another has been taken into custody in relation. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
An Austin firefighter uses a pike to dig into the frame of a house in the 1300 block of 10th Street SW during a house fire call Tuesday afternoon. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin firefighters put water on the front of a home in the 1300 block of 10th Street SE late Tuesday afternoon. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin firefighters put water on the front of a home in the 1300 block of 10th Street SE late Tuesday afternoon. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Austin firefighters, covered in frost, put water on the front of a home in the 1300 block of 10th Street SE late Tuesday afternoon.. Eric Johnson/photodesk@austindailyherald.com
Video shows Officer Damien Schroeder pulling man from the house moments before burning debris started falling where he had been lying
An Austin Police officer was honored during the Austin City Council meeting Monday night for his role in saving a man from serious injury or possibly death during a house fire at a duplex in early February.
Officer Damien Schroeder received a letter of commendation for his efforts on Feb. 4 to pull an injured man away from a home that was actively on fire just moments before burning material from the structure started falling on the space the man occupied.
“You can clearly see that had Damien not arrived when he had … that man would have been burned,” said Austin Police Chief David McKichan, referencing a video from Schroeder’s dash camera that was shown Monday night. “This certainly could have had a fatal outcome here.”
The video shows the moment that Schroeder rolled up on the scene of the fire in the 1300 block of 10th Street SW and both smoke and active fire can be seen coming from the duplex. Just moments earlier, the man had jumped from a second floor window in effort to escape the fire, but in doing so had broken his leg and couldn’t move.
The man can be seen in the video lying on the ground as Schroeder runs to him and then drags him away.
Later in the video, Schroeder is seen running back up to the duplex in order to help the residents on the other side of the duplex to escape, including carrying a small child away from the structure.
“My service, my duty is to protect people — no matter what,” Schroeder said. “My mindset was to make sure everyone was okay.”
Austin firefighters showed up not long after to begin putting the fire out, which was later determined to be intentionally set.
On Feb. 6, Gelisha Sally Rivers, 32, the daughter of the man rescued by Schroeder made her first appearance in Mower County District Court to face a single felony count of first degree arson, punishable by up to 20 years in prison and/or a $20,000 fine if convicted.
“There is no doubt, Damian, you saved that man’s life,” Mayor Steve King said Monday night. “This is just a clear video of what you’ve done.”
However, Schroeder, who has been with the department for two years, said that what he did was something any officer would do.
“Although I was the first on the scene for the incident … I am confident that any other officer in the Austin Police Department would have made the same split second decisions and jumped into action as I did,” Schroeder said.
“God put me in the right place at the right time,” he added. “I’m just there to do my job at the end of the day.”
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