Hickory police officer recognized after saving children from burning home

HICKORY, N.C. — The North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance and the state fire marshal spoke Thursday about Dylan Cornett’s bravery.

PAST COVERAGE: Hickory officer saves 2 kids from burning home

The Hickory police officer ran into a burning home twice in west Hickory to save two children.

Cornett, who was with his wife, spoke with Channel 9 about that night in May when he spotted the fire and tried to help the children as flames spread across the mobile home.

“Once I realized there was a child inside, I got her out,” Cornett said. “I got her down to my patrol car. She told me there was another child farther back in the trailer.”

There was so much smoke he could barely see in front of him.

“You couldn’t see furniture, the walls, or anything,” Cornett said. “The heat was so hot it was burning my face.”

Cornett rescued the second child.

“He is my hero every day he puts this uniform on,” said Belynda Cornett, his wife. “But he took it up a notch whenever he called me and told me what had happened. And I was just so humbled to be his wife at that moment.”

The family moved out of the area and the home is no longer standing.

VIDEO: Hickory officer’s heroism to be recognized after saving 2 kids from burning home