DELTA COUNTY (WWJ) - A state trooper and a conservation officer are being credited with the saving an Upper Peninsula resident from a burning home last week, officials say.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said Conservation Officer Stephen Butzin and Michigan State Police Trooper Zane Weaver were the first responders to reach the home minutes after the Delta County Dispatch put a call out about a structure fire along U.S. Highway 2 in Rapid River.
According to the DNR, Butzin and Weaver jumped into action to help two the two residents -- an husband and wife -- reportedly still inside the house.
“I was informed that the wife left the house, when she returned, she opened the door and smoke began to pour out of the residence, she then called 911,” Butzin said in a release.
The pair tried to enter the home through the front door, but thick, brown smoke was pouring out of the residence. The two officials noticed a woman standing outside, but the man was nowhere to be found.
“As I walked in the house, you could not see anything at ‘standing height,’” Butzin said. “I had to crouch to be able to see through the house as it was full of smoke.”
Weaver was able to find the man on the couch, but he refused the trooper's orders to leave the house.
“Trooper Weaver and I had to physically grab ahold of the husband and carry him out of the residence,” Butzin said. “I believe he did not even know his house was on fire.”
Once they man was safely outside, the two officers confirmed the woman they had seen earlier was the man's wife and no one else was in the house.
Butzin and Weaver put the man in the couple's vehicle and told the woman to drive to the end of the road to clear the way for fire officials.
Smoke was still pouring from the home when Masonville Township Fire Department and EMS personnel arrived on scene. When fire crews entered the home, they found a mattress burning in a bedroom.
The fire was extinguished and the mattress was removed from the house. EMS personnel tended to the husband and wife, but neither went to the hospital.
Butzin cleared the scene of the structure fire at 5:50 p.m., the DNR stated in a release. Alger Delta Electric and DTE Energy also assisted firefighters and responding officers.
According to the DNR, Butzin has been with its Law Enforcement Davison since July of 2017. He was previously awarded with the DNR Law Enforcement Division Life Saving Award for his involvement in saving two people from a snowmobile accident in January 2018.
“Conservation Officer Butzin is a very humble officer. Time after time he shows compassion and dedication to the public he serves,” said Lt. Eugene “Skip” Hagy, a district law supervisor with the DNR Law Enforcement Division’s district 2, which covers the easternmost six counties in the Upper Peninsula.
“He often doesn’t say anything because he ‘doesn’t want to make a big deal out of it’ or to be thought of in any way other than just an officer doing his job – what he thinks any officer would do. He is of the highest caliber and his level of dedication is exemplary.”
The DNR said the incident highlights how important it is for law enforcement and emergency personnel come together in emergency situations, especially in rural areas.
"Michigan conservation officers are fully commissioned state peace officers who provide natural resources protection, ensure recreational safety and protect citizens by providing general law enforcement duties and lifesaving operations in the communities they serve," the DNR added.
Learn more about Michigan conservation officers at Michigan.gov/ConservationOfficers.