By Kyle Coppola
Off Duty Leesburg Police Sargent Saves Woman and Dogs From House Fire
Earlier this week, Sgt. Alex Nell of the Leesburg Police Department spotted smoke billowing from the roof of a home while driving along State Road 48.
Smoke was rising. A house was on fire.
Sgt. Nell immediately pulled over, reported the fire to dispatch and rushed toward the home. Body camera footage released by the Leesburg Police Department shows smoke already pouring from the roof as he approached.
“Hello? Is anyone home?” Sgt. Nell shouted.
Receiving no response, he hopped a fence and made his way around the property and onto the back deck.
“It’s Leesburg Police!” he yelled. “Your house is on fire!”
Inside, the homeowner had been unaware of the danger closing in around her. Startled by the pounding and the urgent voice, she came to the door. Sergeant Nell quickly explained the situation and sprang into action.
However, the homeowner had dogs inside the house that needed to be brought to safety. Working together, they were able to successfully extract the dogs along with the homeowner from the home just in the nick of time.
Thanks to one off-duty sergeant who chose to act, lives were saved. No injuries were reported.
The Leesburg Fire Department responded and was able to prevent further damage to the home.
“Great work yesterday by Sgt. Nell, who noticed a home on fire, after being struck by lightning,” the Leesburg Police Department wrote in a social media post. “Sgt. Nell immediately pulled over and alerted the home owner, who had no idea the house was on fire. Sgt. Nell assisted the home owner in getting out, along with two dogs, and their vehicle from the garage. Thankfully, everyone (and animals) got out safely, and the fire department was able to mitigate further damage with their quick response.”
It isn’t the first time Sgt. Nell has found himself in the right place at the right time. In 2019, he was credited with saving a 75-year-old woman at a Leesburg gas station after an unattended vehicle began rolling backward toward her. Body camera footage from that incident showed Nell sprinting to the runaway vehicle, stopping it with his own body and pulling the woman to safety just moments before she would have been run over. The Leesburg Police Department praised his quick thinking at the time, saying his actions likely prevented a tragic outcome.
Thank you, Sergeant Nell for being our hometown hero!
Kyle Coppola was born in Newton, Massachusetts and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communications from Curry College in 2016. After traveling to Florida on a family vacation, he decided he could not get enough of the warm weather and made the move from snowy Massachusetts to central Florida 8 years ago.
For the last decade Kyle has gained valuable experience in social media content creation, marketing and sales, writing, video production, sports announcing and even broadcasting for local radio stations, such as FM 102.9 in The Villages and FM 91.5 in Massachusetts. Every year he volunteers at The Villages Charter High School as a play-by-play sports announcer for the football games as well as a public address announcer for the basketball games, including the annual Battle at The Villages Tournament.
Outside the office Kyle is a husband and father to two beautiful girls along with their cat. In his spare time he likes to spend time with his family, travel, play golf and swim. He is also a huge sports junkie and even bigger motorsports fan and loves to attend racing events when he can.
