Photo Courtesy of the Louisa County Sheriff's Office

A pair of Louisa County law enforcement officers received an award from their superiors for their heroism in the line of duty. On February 13th, Deputies Quintin Whittaker and Nick Davis were among those who responded to a structure fire call just after 10p.m. at a residence on County Road X61 in rural Louisa County. Whittaker recently shared with KCII News what transpired on scene. “As I arrived on scene I advised that the structure was full engulfed in flames and that the flames had actually reached propane tanks. Then I started to go and get everyone out of the surrounding houses. The fire department had asked us to make a 500 meter perimeter. We actually learned about them being in the house, pretty shortly after we arrived on scene but the flames hadn’t reached them yet and there was a downed power line near them, so we were trying to get the power shut off before we tried to get them out. So we go up to the window. We tried to pull on the window to get it open, and see if we didn’t have to break it but there was no way to get it open, so we kind of started smashing through. Normally you don’t want to smash through a window but there wasn’t any other options at that point. You can create backdraft and what not but that was our best option to bust out the window and get them out.”

Thanks to their bravery and actions, an adult and four-year-old were able to exit the structure to safety. The two officers were presented with a “Life Saving Award” by Louisa County Sheriff Brad Turner, Chief Deputy Brandon Marquardt and Sergeant Greg Torres. Davis talked about what the award meant to them. “I personally don’t like to be recognized in that way because I like to think that anybody in my position would have done the same thing. But I do really appreciate the award that was given to us.”

While a law enforcement career can have its challenges, both acknowledge that the job can be fun. Family, mentors and a desire to help people were their biggest influences in choosing this path. Whittaker, originally from Muscatine, has been serving with law enforcement in Louisa County since 2020. Davis, a Winfield native, has been serving with Louisa County since his certification in December.