Detroiters Honored For House Fire Rescue
You can call them heroes, but they will tell you they were only doing what had to be done.
Lee Talos and Terrance Stonestreet, of Detroit, received commendations today from the Detroit Fire Department for their selfless acts in the rescue a 9-year-old girl from a house fire in southwest Detroit July 15th.
Talos, 45, awakened from screams in the house across the street. There he saw the orange glow of the flames, and family members pleading for their daughter, Tahanee Shohatee, who was still in the burning home on the 5000 block of Trenton Street.
Talos knocked out a side window with a baseball bat, but was overcome by the smoke. He covered himself in a blanket and wore a breathing mask and crawled on the floor to locate the Shohatee. Talos picked her up in his arms, unable to see and took her back to the window, suffering cuts to his hands, feet and chest.
Talos says he know what it's like to be rescued.
"In my old country in Romania, I was drowning. Two of my classmates pulled me from the water," Talos said. "From that day on, I know what it means to be alive."
Stonestreet, 29, also resisted the smoke and heat to take the girl from Talos and administered CPR on the girl, before she passed away from her injuries the following day.
But he doesn't consider himself a hero.
"I never asked to be praised, it was strictly from the heart...I heard kids...I just ran towards it," Stonestreet said.
Tahahnee's father, Walide Shohatee, was present at today's ceremonies and hugged Talos and Stonestreet and fire officials to thank them for their efforts.
"We need to do something to keep this from happening to another person," he said.
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