SOUTH HADLEY — When police Officer Spencer Hart arrived at a School Street apartment early on July 4, smoke was already pouring out of the first-floor windows and a neighbor said two people were still inside.
Hart, a 34-year-old South Hadley native who was working the midnight shift, was the first emergency responder on the scene. And without giving it much thought, he said he immediately ran into the apartment to look for the two residents.
“As soon as I entered the doorway into the apartment, I found the first male tenant. He was passed out on the ground,” Hart said in a phone interview Wednesday.
Hart pulled the man out of the apartment, and as soon as he regained consciousness he told Hart his girlfriend was still in the building. So Hart then went back inside to look for the man’s girlfriend.
Three times Hart rushed back into the smoke-filled dwelling, desperately looking for the other tenant. He was eventually overcome by smoke, unable to locate the man’s girlfriend.
Firefighters arrived on the scene, put on their masks, and discovered her passed out on the floor of the bathroom — a room Hart said they initially mistook for a closet because of all the smoke.
Hart’s actions weren’t celebrated publicly that day. He went on vacation soon after and said he almost forgot about the incident. That wasn’t the case for others at the South Hadley Police Department, however.
This week, the department surprised him with two awards: an Exceptional Service Award and the Life Saving Award.
In a statement posted to social media, the department said that Hart’s bravery, quick thinking and disregard for his own personal safety saved two lives.
Hart said he didn’t really think twice about running into the building that day. He gives credit to the neighbor who called 911 and alerted him to the two residents who had not yet been seen.
“My first reaction was just to go in,” he said.