Nashville police heroes celebrated for evacuating people before Nashville Christmas explosion

Six police officers in Nashville are now being called heroes for risking their lives and running into danger to evacuate people before a massive explosion in the downtown area.

Officers and crews from the fire department arrived at the scene on Second Avenue in the heart of downtown Nashville on Christmas morning to find an RV parked outside a large building belonging to AT&T just before 6am.

A loud audio warning was emanating from the RV telling people to evacuate now and that a bomb was in the vehicle. The message kept repeating itself without pause.

According to the Tennessean, the bomb squad was called in, but didn't make it to the scene on time before the explosion, around 6:30am.

"Those officers saved lives today," said Nashville Police Chief John Drake proudly. "They immediately began knocking on doors, not knowing if the bomb was going to go off immediately. They didn't care about themselves, they didn't think about that, they cared about the citizens of Nashville."

The officers are:

• Sergeant Timothy Miller
• Officer Brenna Hosey, who was also famous for rescuing a coyote from downtown Nashville a year ago
• Officer James Luellen, a 3-year veteran;
• Officer Amanda Topping, a 21-month veteran;
• Officer Michael Sipos, who has less than two years on the force, and
• Officer James Wells, also with a little less than two years experience.

US Attorney Donald Cochran also took to Twitter to uphold the six officers who acted courageously in evacuating people:

Three people were injured due to the blast, but are in stable condition and are expected to make full recoveries. There are also human remains which have been located in the blast radius.