CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A Clearlake Police officer is being hailed as a hero after his quick action early Wednesday morning saved four people from a house fire, including the man who police say intentionally set the blaze.
Officer Trevor Franklin is credited with saving the lives while risking his own, according to police and fire officials.
Police also arrested the man believed responsible for setting the fire to his family's home – 50-year-old Troy Milton Burnett of Clearlake, authorities said.
Sgt. Travis Lenz said officers were dispatched to the 15900 block of 39th Avenue at approximately 1:14 a.m. Wednesday due to a female caller reporting that Burnett – her brother – was acting strange but not violent. She asked officers to come to the scene and speak with him.
During the officers’ response to the residence, dispatch received a 911 call at approximately 1:19 a.m. reporting that there was a structure fire in the area of 39th Avenue and Phillips Avenue, Lenz said.
Franklin was the first on scene, arriving seven minutes after the original call came in. When he got on scene, he discovered the residence was fully engulfed in flames, Lenz said.
Lenz said Franklin found Troy Burnett on the residence's front porch, which also was on fire. Franklin removed Burnett from the porch and escorted him to the roadway and to safety.
While firefighters were still en route, Franklin found out there were more people inside the home. Lenz said Franklin ran around to the rear of the residence because the front was engulfed in flames, and found an open sliding glass door.
In the home's backyard, Franklin encountered a woman who was identified as Burnett’s sister. At the same time, an 80-year-old man was attempting to get out of the house through the sliding glass door but having issues doing so, Lenz said.
Lenz said at that point the whole house was on fire, but Franklin risked his safety to help the man – who later was identified as Burnett's father – safely get out of the residence.
Burnett's father told Franklin that his 77-year-old wife, Burnett’s stepmother, was still trapped inside the burning building, according to Lenz's report.
Lenz said Franklin found the woman lying on the floor just inside the sliding glass door. Because of her age and physical condition, she was unable to stand, so Franklin picked her up and carried her to safety.
Lake County Fire Chief Willie Sapeta said the stick-built home was fully engulfed in flames by the time firefighters arrived on scene minutes after dispatch.
He said Lake County Fire was assisted with mutual aid by Cal Fire and Northshore Fire.
Resources on scene included a total of four engines, one water tender, two medic units and two chief officers, Sapeta said.
The fire was contained shortly after 2:30 a.m., with firefighters remaining on scene for mop up and an investigation. Sapeta said firefighters cleared the scene at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The structure was a total loss, and the fire also damaged power lines. Sapeta said Pacific Gas and Electric had to replace two stands of damaged wires on Wednesday morning.
Lenz said that, based on statements police obtained from Burnett and all of the victims on scene, it was determined that, prior to Franklin's arrival, Burnett's stepmother and father were in bed asleep when he entered their bedroom and began striking his parents in the head and body with a shovel.
Burnett struck his stepmother with such force with the shovel that it knocked her from the bed to the floor, Lenz said.
Lenz said Burnett’s father was able to take the shovel from Burnett, but not before he sustained moderate injuries to his head and body.
Burnett exited the room and returned moments later with a plastic item which was on fire, throwing the item on his stepmother, who was still on the floor, Lenz said. The woman sustained apparent burns to her hands from extinguishing the burning plastic which was on her body.
Lenz said Burnett then exited his parents' bedroom and gathered numerous clothing items and piled them in the hallway, which obstructed his family’s path of travel to the front door of the residence.
After covering them with an unknown liquid accelerant, Burnett lit the clothing items on fire. A short time later officers arrived on scene, Lenz said.
Lake County Fire Protection District Station 70 paramedics medically treated Burnett’s father, stepmother and sister, transporting his father and sister to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake for medical treatment, authorities said.
Due to the amount of fire personnel needed to combat the house fire and prevent it from spreading to nearby residences, Lenz said Clearlake Police officers transported Burnett’s stepmother to St. Helena Hospital Clear Lake for medical treatment as well.
Lenz said Burnett was placed under arrest for attempted homicide and arson of an inhabited structure. After medical clearance, Burnett was transported and booked into the Lake County Jail, with bail set at $200,000, according to booking records.
Lenz said Franklin suffered from smoke inhalation. He was treated at the hospital and released.
Clearlake Police Lt. Tim Celli said later on Wednesday that Franklin was OK after the ordeal.
Had Franklin not been there and taken the action he did, Sapeta said the outcome could have been far different – with Burnett's father and stepmother dying in the fire.
“He's definitely a hero,” Sapeta said of Franklin, who he added did “a phenomenal job.”
Franklin, a 2007 graduate of Middletown High School, has been with the Clearlake Police Department for about three years, joining the agency after graduating from the police academy in December 2012.
Anyone with information regarding the fire is requested to contact Clearlake Police Department Det. Elvis Cook at 707-994-8251, Extension 315.
Email Elizabeth Larson at
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