Atlantic City officer saves teen, pets from kitchen fire in shocking life-saving rescue

ATLANTIC CITY - Atlantic City Police released dramatic police body cam video of an officer making a life-saving rescue of a teenager and beloved family pets from a burning kitchen fire.

"When my daughter called me she said, "mommy fire, fire, oh my God., God help me," said Miriam Zuniga. 

Zuniga is the mother of the victim, 17-year-old Natalie, who was inside the home at the time of the fire. 

"I’m going to try to kick the door down," Officer Riley Flynn can be heard saying on the body cam video as he arrived at the smoke-filled home on the 800 block of Maryland Avenue around 1 a.m. on May 26.

With smoke alarms blaring, the video shows Officer Flynn making his way to the second floor bathroom where he finds Natalie searching for her pets. He then brought her outside to safety. 

Natalie's mom says she had just left the home 20 minutes earlier when the kitchen stove caught fire.

However, Officer Flynn wasn’t done with his heroics just yet. 

The officer with two years at the department under his belt, ran back inside the smokey home for more rescues. All of the family pets. 

The video shows Officer Flynn running back inside and with the help of a neighbor, three of the family's dogs were pulled from the home along with a cat hiding in a bedroom closet. 

"Police officers are not firemen. They don’t have the level of training they have for a fire. But one of the things our officers do have is bravery and courage. And I’m really proud of him because he did not hesitate when he saw someone's life was on the line. He put his life on the line," said Atlantic City Police Chief James Sarkos.

Officer Flynn is on a well deserved vacation this week, but his boss couldn’t be more proud. 

The fire was quickly put out by Atlantic City firefighters and there were no injuries thanks in part to a brave police officer. 

"If everyone saw what I see on a daily basis and that’s the selflessness, that’s the heroic actions that our officers do day in and day out, no one would feel bad about law enforcement" added Sarkos.

For Zuniga, she hopes to meet Officer Flynn in person again someday to thank him for protecting her daughter and pets.