Centralia Police Department Officer Phillip Weismiller posed for this photograph recently as he and his wife are awaiting their first child. He was injured attempting to save three children from a burning home early Friday morning.
The Centralia Police Department officer injured while trying to save three children from a burning home early Friday morning is recovering at home.
Philip Weismiller, 36, climbed on the roof of the home at 917 Ham Hill Road in Centralia and tried to break a second-floor window after the fire was reported just before 1 a.m.
In the process, he severely injured his hand, according to his wife, Norma Weismiller.
"Well, Phil is currently waking up,” she told The Chronicle Friday afternoon. “His hand isn't feeling too good, but we are keeping the pain meds down him. He almost cut two of them (fingers) completely off ... But luckily it looks like they will fully heal and he will be able to keep all of his fingers."
Three children who had been sleeping on the second floor died in the fire. Their mother was able to escape. She had been sleeping on the first floor.
Norma Weismiller said her husband is understandably distraught by the tragedy.
“He is a strong man ... but situations like this are hard for anyone involved,” she said. “He did all he could do, and he knows that. But he is sad that he couldn't save the kids."
The couple is currently expecting their first child.
For Norma Weismiller, it’s a fact that has acted to make the situation all the more tragic and difficult to process.
"It's a huge tragedy either way, but I have been so upset this morning thinking about what that poor mother is going through,” she said. “And what if my husband didn't make it home?"
She said the thoughts of her and her husband are with the victims.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the victims. Or of those poor children that lost their lives," she said.
Phillip Weismiller has worked for the department for about three years and eight months, according to The Chronicle’s archives.
Prior to his employment at Centralia, he worked at the Kelso Police Department.
Weismiller also worked previously as a captain in the U.S. Army and served in the Middle East.
