Three deputies are being called heroes after rushing into a burning building and saving a home owner. Rick Montanez reports for NBC4 News at 6 p.m. on Jan. 27, 2019.
Three Orange County Sheriff's deputies rushed into a burning building in Tustin early Sunday morning to rescue a man fast asleep and unaware that his building was on fire.
Authorities received a call about a fire at around 1 a.m. Sunday morning and responded to a fire on the 10600 block of Rockhurst Avenue in Tustin.
Within minutes, OCSD deputy Joseph Medina responded to the home in Cowan Heights, located near Newport Boulevard and Cowan Heights Drive. He discovered a home on fire and rushed in through the front door. Two of his partners showed up soon after, and the three first responders rushed towards danger.
All three deputies went room by room, eventually heading upstairs, an area that was filling with smoke.
There, they found a man asleep in his bed, unaware of the fire.
The deputies woke the man up and told him his home was burning. The three deputies rushed the man to safety.
As the four men exited the burning building, fire crews began arriving.
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Medina said he had trained for situations like rushing into the burning building, but training and reality are two different things.
Proud of his team and the work he does, the deputy was back on patrol Sunday night, saying he was motivated by knowing his team of deputies had likely saved a life.
