'Your House Is On Fire:' Man Thanks OC Deputies Who Saved Him From Burning Home
SANTA ANA (CBSLA) — A group of Orange County sheriff's deputies are being hailed heroes after rushing into a burning home and saving a man sleeping inside.
Intense flames ripped through the attic of this home in unincorporated Santa Ana as Jim Heesch slept inside.
Three members of the Orange County Sheriff's Department took the call from dispatch and ran in.
"They came in their flashlight was on – I jumped up: 'Your house is on fire so let's get going!'" Heesch recalled.
Deputy Joseph Medina got there first.
"I saw a car in the driveway so I immediately ran to the house," he said.
Medina says he ran upstairs – going room to room – while the house was filled with smoke.
His two partners went through the first floor, where they found Heesch.
Medina says it was a team effort from dispatch to the call-taker and the person who dialed 911.
"Being able to be part of that team to get somebody out to safety when they're in danger is definitely rewarding," he said.
Heesch says there was no way the deputies could've known what they were walking into. And they did it selflessly before the fire department arrived.
"Without the hard hats. Without the fire gear on. They didn't have that so ... I'm really thankful they took the risk down that hallway to wake me up and get me out of here," he said.