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WEST JORDAN — Police rescued an armed suicidal man from a home as it went up in flames Thursday evening, according to the West Jordan Police Department.
Police arrived at the home near 6700 South and 3200 West around 6 p.m. after receiving a call that a suicidal man was hurting himself and attacking family members, said West Jordan police officer Ian Adams.
Family members escaped the home by the time the officers arrived, but the man remained inside and was setting the house on fire, Adams said.
Two officers ran into the burning home to retrieve the man. Adams said the man was "combative and armed," though he didn't specify what type of weapon the man had with him.
"At great risk to themselves, (the officers) became engaged in a fight with the (man) inside the house and were able to remove him from the house as a third officer arrived to help," Adams said. "All three officers really did put themselves at great risk."
Adams called the officers' actions courageous. He added that flames were raging in the very room where the struggle occurred.
"They're some of the finest officers I think that I've ever met," he said. "Tonight's actions were among the most heroic I've ever seen. They really did risk their lives for this (man), who was actively fighting them and assaulting them."
The three officers were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. The suicidal man was taken to a nearby hospital in unknown condition for self-inflicted injuries. Adams didn't say what criminal charges might be pursued against the man.
None of the man's family members were injured in the ordeal. The two-story home was considered a total loss in the fire. It wasn't immediately known how the man allegedly started the fire.
West Jordan police remained on scene Thursday night to help firefighters investigate what had happened. All three men who performed the rescue are patrol officers with the agency, Adams said.
Contributing: Brianna Bodily, Nicole Vowell
