Wisconsin police officer races into burning barn and rescues cows trapped near flames

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STURGEON BAY, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin police officer who ran into a burning barn and found three cows near flames says the bovines “made a beeline” for the safety of a pasture once he opened a gate holding them back.

Sturgeon Bay police officer Andrew Crabb was nearing the end of his overnight shift on the morning of June 25 when he spotted smoke coming from a barn at a farm. He stopped, dashed across a field and entered the barn, finding the cows trapped and mooing in distress.

“Once I realized what was going on inside that barn, I realized the gate didn’t get undone and those cows were not going to make it,” Crabb told Fox News Digital. “So I ran in there and got the gate and then got them out. And I didn’t have to really encourage them too much. They knew exactly what they needed to do once that gate was open.”

Crabb said the cows “made a beeline” out of the barn and joined the rest of the herd in the pasture. He said the three cows had been kept in the barn overnight because they were deemed “prone to escape.”

Police body camera video shows Crabb entering the barn, with flames near the animals. After he removes a chain from the gate, Crabb says “come on guys” and the cows quickly make their way out of the barn.

“Thankfully, everyone was safe!” Sturgeon Bay police said in a post on the department’s Facebook page.

Crabb said an all-volunteer fire brigade was able to “save the majority” of the barn.