JPD Officer praised for alerting sleeping woman of house fire

A Joplin Police Officer is being praised for alerting a sleeping woman that her home was on fire Wednesday morning. Officer Dane Wheeler was patrolling the area near 2122 South Pearl Avenue just before 5:45 a.m., when he saw smoke coming from the second story of the home. Wheeler then knocked on the door but wasn’t able to get a response, so he entered the home and woke the woman up. The Joplin Fire Department says there were no injuries as the fire was ruled accidental.