They wore no turnout gear. They had no masks or oxygen tanks. They carried no tools to break down doors if necessary.
Yet on the night of Feb. 20, three officers of the Sarasota Police Department — one of them recently signed off and headed toward an extra-duty detail — rushed into a burning home to rescue two elderly people, including a limited-mobility woman who was carried to safety.
There is no police academy training for fire rescue. That’s typically left to an agency that trains night and day and whose personnel is equipped with gear specifically designed for the task. Still, they rushed into the flames at the home in the 2200 block of North Osprey Avenue, ordering occupants to leave while rushing room to room in search of potential victims…