BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — A trooper with the Bowling Green Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol was honored for "demonstrating a sense of urgency and rendering aid" to a family during a July 2023 house fire in east Toledo.
Ohio State Highway Patrol Trooper Casimir A. Von Sacken received the Patrol's Distinguished Service Medallion for helping a family evacuate their home after a vacant house next door engulfed in flames.
In the early morning hours of July 15, Trooper Von Sacken was driving passengers home from a traffic stop following an OVI arrest when he came upon a fire at a vacant house on Mott Avenue near Elgin Avenue.
Trooper Von Sacken radioed the Bowling Green Dispatch Center to request help from the Toledo Fire and Rescue Department as he parked his patrol car at a safe distance across the street with with the emergency overhead lights on, according to a press release from OSHP.
The trooper immediately exited his car and ran through the smoke filled air to wake up the neighbors and alert them about the fire. As the fire quickly spread to their home, melting the siding, he ensured the family made it out safely, potentially saving their lives.
On Sept. 29, Trooper Von Sacken was given the award at a special ceremony at the Bowling Green Post on behalf of Colonel Charles A. Jones, Patrol superintendent.
As a member of the 150th Academy class, Trooper Von Sacken began his patrol career in Oct. 2010. He was assigned to the Lima Post in April 2010.
In 2012, Trooper Von Sacken was transferred to the Bowling Green Post.
A body cam video from the July 2023 incident can be found below:
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