NEVER TRULY OFF DUTY

Officer standing in front of fire truck

On April 16th, Dewey Beach, Delaware Police Officer John ‘Jack’ Kane had a full night of saving lives. During a routine, overnight shift, Officer Kane observed smoke and an orange glow. Going to investigate, Office Kane found a house immersed in flames. The driveway had multiple parked cars but no one was outside; Kane assumed that people were still inside.

“I knew I had to act quickly because people were still in the house,” Kane said. The front of the building was already fully engulfed, but after calling 911, Kane gained entrance through a back door. Kane found six people in the home, and alerted them to get out of the home.

“You know when you do this job, you may have to put your life at risk sometimes to help others. I just knew I had to help them, and try to make sure everyone was safely out of the house at that moment,” Kane said.

Kane finished his 14-hour shift and was on his way home, when a call about a cardiac arrest came over his radio. “I was one street over,” Kane said. “You’re never really off duty.” Kane arrived at the scene along with a Delaware state trooper, and performed aid to the victim who survived the cardiac incident.

“(I was) thankful to be going home. Not only did I get to go home, but everyone else got to go home. You sign up to help others. Every other officer would have done the same thing.” Kane said.

Decker, Cody, 20 April 2022
http://wrde.com/news/dewey-officer-rcognized-for-heroic-efforts-during-after-fire/video_09c54733-3f82-5c7c-9df6-4ad798149379.html
Dewey Officer Recognized for Heroic Efforts During & After Fire | News | wrde.com
Photo courtesy John H Peterson