Lake Geneva Police Officer William Walser figured there was only one way to save a young baby stranded on the roof of a burning home with her mother and grandmother.
The mother would have to toss the 1 1/2-month-old infant down to him.
“I told her mom you have to put your hands out like this and drop your daughter down,” Walser told WDJT in Milwaukee. “That’s our only option right now. She didn’t like that at first.
“But I said you have to do it now. She finally did it, had a nice drop. I caught her,” Walser said.
The mother then jumped from the roof of the two-story house and fell 10-12 feet to the ground, injuring her leg, fire officials said. The grandmother was helped down a ladder but also fell when it collapsed. Officials said she was not hurt.
Walser said he pulled up to the home in the 1000 block of Elm Street around 11:40 a.m. Tuesday and saw several residents huddled in the driveway and the home engulfed in flames.
“I had a couple residents and a male on crutches in the driveway saying there are a bunch of people trapped on the rear roof,” Walser said.
The officer said the grandmother, mother and baby were all struggling to breathe when he spotted them on the roof.
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Lake Geneva Fire Chief Brent Connelly said the fire would have been “very tragic” without the actions of Walser and neighbors who helped the grandmother down.
“Their rescue efforts saved lives,” he said.
Walser said the baby came through the ordeal unscathed.
“She never cried once,” he said. “I had her in my hands for 25 minutes. She was a good kid.”