LOCKPORT, N.Y. — On Sunday, three New York State Police troopers ended up fighting a fire in a Lockport neighborhood.
They also helped rescue several pets as the flames started spreading to a second home.
On Wednesday, we spoke with the troopers about their experience.
Troopers Martin Derkovitz, Benjamin Zaccagnino, and Matthew Wetzel never know what their work day will look like as they respond to emergencies. On Sunday they ended up saving a dog and several birds from a house fire on Royal Parkway North in Lockport.
"Sunday started off as a normal day for patrol, and you know, a call came in for a structure fire, and I think everything changed a little bit at that moment," Trooper Derkovitz said.
When they got there, they saw a garage on fire with the flames spreading to the home. Everyone was already out of that home safely, but the home next door had pets inside and the fire was spreading.
"So we just went to the house, we banged on the windows, nobody answered, and we felt we had to force the door to go inside and rescue whatever animals were in there," Trooper Derkovitz said.
They ended up rescuing a dog and a cage full of parakeets.
"At the end of the day, that's the best we can do for them. For that family, for both of the families that lost their house, it's a horrible day, but we are able to reunite pets, and at the end of the day, that's why we became Troopers was to help the community that we protect," Trooper Zaccagnino said.
Troopers Derkovitz and Zaccagnino have experience as volunteer firefighters, but Trooper Wetzel doesn't have a firefighting background. Still, he jumped in to help when the first fire truck got there.
They didn't have firefighting equipment on, but they wanted to make sure the rest of the neighborhood stayed safe.
"If it was my family, I would want someone to jump in and help out the best they could, and with the resources we had, it just seemed like the right thing to do," Trooper Wetzel.
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