STARKVILLE — When Starkville Police Department Cpl. Cameron Bell heard a woman screaming for help from her back patio as fire engulfed her home, the only thing he could do was act.
“My initial thought was, whatever it took to save a life,” Bell told media outlets on Tuesday. “When I heard her scream for help, I knew it was not time to wait.”
Bell spoke about saving the woman from the fire on Tuesday night, after receiving a lifesaver award during the city’s board of aldermen meeting. Bell has served with the department for six years, though he had never faced a situation like the one he faced at 2:49 a.m. May 3, as flames grew at the home on the corner of Plum Road and Dogwood Drive.
“The house was fully engulfed,” Bell said. “The roof was caving in. The electricity was popping from the lines. I think the line had already (fallen) into the house.”
Bell said the woman who lived in the home was disabled, but she crawled out to the back patio to escape the flames. However, a wooden fence blocked her from getting farther from the structure, as a tree had fallen against the fence’s gate.
Bell ran around the side of the home, pulling the tree off of the gate and retrieving the disabled woman. After he brought her out from behind the first wooden fence, other officers came to their aid, helping get the woman past a secondary chain link fence to safety.
Dash camera and body camera footage shown during the meeting showed Bell’s run into the smoke and heat, including Bell shouting “I got her” repeatedly and confirming that no one else was in the house during the incident.
“It was a scary situation, but I knew what my job was,” Bell said. “I knew what the task was at hand, and I did what I had to do.”
SPD Chief Mark Ballard commended Bell for his performance under the pressure, calling it a “rarity” that the officer was willing to put the life of another before his own.
While SPD often works alongside Starkville Fire Department on scenes such as the one Bell ran onto, his split-second decision was the difference between life and death, as Ballard said there were only seconds to react, not minutes.
“This is a special moment,” Ballard said. “Whenever you can recognize your people to (make) good decisions, decisive decisions and the right decisions while under a tremendous amount of pressure, it always makes you feel proud. And that’s what happened with this event, and we’re very proud to have Cameron on our team.”
Ballard also presented Bell with the award medal during the meeting that acknowledged his selflessness as he ran into danger, saving a life and a family from an “unimaginable loss,” calling his actions the “embodiment of what it means to serve and protect.”
Bell received a standing ovation from all those present at the board of aldermen meeting.
“Unfortunately, our people are put at risk quite often in the nature of the business that we deal with, but I’m very, very proud of him and I’m glad that this story worked out with a happy ending,” Ballard said.
Townhome variance
Later in the meeting, the board of aldermen voted unanimously to approve a request for a special exception allowing the use of townhomes at a development on the south side of Lynn Lane, directly east of Fieldgate Drive.
The applicant, Kraker Real Estate LLC, hopes to build two townhome buildings with three dwelling units in each building, with parking located behind each building. The request shows a buffer between the potential Cypress Hill properties and adjacent properties to the east and south.
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