Police Officer Lauded for his Efforts as Fire Guts Garage

The owner of a garage in Hummelstown is hailing the swift actions of a police officer who called 911 and woke them up in the middle of the night after he saw flames coming from the structure.

The fire broke out shortly before midnight on the 200 block of Division Street in a garage owned by Janice Foltz, who was asleep at the time.

The officer discovered the fire while on routine patrol and attempted to put the blaze out himself but to no avail, according to Hummelstown Police.

The officer called 911 and then knocked on the door of the home, where Foltz and her husband were sleeping, according to Foltz.

“He called the fire department and banged on the door, waking my husband,” Foltz wrote on a social media post. “Had it not been for him spotting (the fire), I shudder to think of how large the fire would have grown before someone else might have taken notice of it.”

Fire crews from Hummelstown, Hershey, Palmyra and beyond arrived at the scene and extinguished the blaze.

Despite the fact that a vehicle was parked in the garage and was likely destroyed, Foltz remains positive.

“My son says ‘don’t count the could-haves,’ but I do, because God has truly blessed us this past month, on several occasions, with uncomfortably close, potential bad ‘couldhaves,’” Foltz wrote.

Hummelstown Police Chief Justin Hess told The Sun that the officer’s swift actions would likely be recognized internally in the form of a citation.

“This incident is a good example of the professionalism and proactive work the officers of the Hummelstown Police Department proudly provide our residents every day,” Hess said.

“This community is blessed to have a group of officers that hold their wellbeing and safety close to their hearts. It is an honor to serve alongside them.”

“The Fire Marshal conducted an investigation and there are no suspicious circumstances regarding the cause/source of the fire,” Hummelstown Police wrote in a news release.

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