Cops rush into burning Canton home, rescue unconscious man

By David Ibata

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Two police officers were credited Tuesday with possibly saving a life after they ran into a burning house in Canton and pulled out an unconscious man who apparently had become overcome by smoke.

Canton Officer Stephen Delman said he was on patrol when a radio call came across about 2:30 p.m. Monday for a fire, with someone trapped inside, in a home at 139 Ilex Drive. He activated his squad car’s lights and sirens and sped up I-575 to the scene.

On his way, off-duty Holly Springs Officer Shane Smith began following him in his own car. Both officers arrived at the fire scene to see smoke pouring from the top-floor windows of the two-story house.

“The front door wasn’t budging,” Delman said in a phone interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I ran around to the side and found a glass sliding door. I started yanking on the door until it came open.”

Delman said he radioed dispatch that he was going in, and the two officers plunged into the home, braving smoke as they found their way to the front of the house.

“We tried to go as fast as we could,” Delman said. “I was fearful for the individual trapped inside as well as for me and the other officer. I wanted to get in there and get this guy out as fast as we could.”

They found an unconscious Adam Walker inside the home’s front door. The 31-year-old resident apparently had been coming down the stairs when he tripped, fell and passed out, said Canton police spokesman Lt. G. Alan Rivas.

Delman and Smith opened the front door and got Walker outside. By this time, other Canton and Holly Springs police were arriving, as well as crews of the Canton and Cherokee County Fire Departments.

“We hoisted the guy out and got him in an ambulance and got him treated,” Delman said.

As firefighters doused the blaze, an ambulance crew rushed Walker to a local hospital. He remained there Tuesday. Canton police detectives were seeking the cause of the fire.