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The moment a man allegedly set fire to a family home has been shared by police in a video offering an insight into the dangerous and dynamic situations cops face every day.
Officers battled fierce flames and toxic smoke to save a woman and three young children after being called to a life-threatening accident in regional WA in April.
WATCH VIDEO ABOVE: Man sets house on fire when confronted by Washington, D.C. police.
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Body-wiped footage shows a police officer kicking in the door of a home in Spencer Park, Albany, about 400km south of Perthto find a man standing in the living room.
When asked to “show me his hands”, the man leans over and claims to be using a lighter to ignite a trail of fuel spilled around the home, sending a “fireball” racing across the property.
The cops retreat for a moment, but with the kids out of sight, they run back inside.
As the fire alarm blares, police put out the flames as one officer yells, “Where are the kids?”
Warren Taylor found a young girl covering herself in another room and took her to safety.
The backup officer said he was acting on instinct when he was backing into danger.
“Honestly, you don’t think to be afraid. You just hear there’s a kid in there and you go,” he said.
Police say petrol was also thrown on the man’s partner, covering her clothes.
Officers got the family safely out of the home and contained the fire until firefighters arrived.
Even with the family safe, no officers were injured and one man was taken into custody, Taylor said he knows everyone involved was lucky.
“It probably could have been a little worse. There was gasoline everywhere, big flames. They were all very lucky to get away,” he said.
The accused, aged 30, was charged with attempted unlawful killing and using a corrosive liquid or explosive substance to cause harm or prevent arrest.
He will appear at Stirling Gardens Magistrates’ Court in July.
Proud Albany Senior Sergeant Carlos Correa said the footage showed the dangerous situation police faced on a daily basis.
“It just shows the uncertainty of going into this type of job. You don’t know what’s going on and (the officers) go in there (without) much thought for their personal safety,” Correia said.
The Albany team was among the units and individuals honored at the first Washington Police Force Awards of Excellence.
The Kellerberrin Police Department received the regional operational excellence award for its response to an active shooter in the Wheatbelt city in September.
The gunman fled after shooting a colleague in a grain silo, and police working in the small town protected the community as the situation unfolded.
There were 172 nominations, with 10 team and eight individual winners.
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