By Amanda Spence
EL DORADO COUNTY, Calif. — A sheriff’s deputy is being hailed a hero after saving an elderly couple during the Mosquito Fire.
Deputy Jeramy Buckman, who was responsible for letting people know about evacuation orders, received a call about a couple being stranded with their dogs, KCRA reported. They were inside the fire line and didn’t have a way of getting out as their car was disabled.
Buckman drove his cruiser through the fire line to rescue the couple and their two dogs through smoky and fire-ridden roads. Once he arrived on scene, a wild hog attacked the couple’s dogs as they were leaving. However, Buckman was able to get the dogs into his vehicle safely.
“By the time we made our way back out, the nature of the fire going back out had changed dramatically,” Buckman explained. “Ahead of us was just smoke over the roadway. You could see fire on both sides.”
As a result, he had to stop the cruiser – with flames touching his vehicle at one point.
“To the right of us, where my tire was, was an active fire and nowhere to go at that point,” Buckman said. “I couldn’t see the road behind me. I couldn’t see in front of me. This poor couple in the car [was] very distraught.”
Thankfully, winds quickly shifted and the deputy was able to proceed safely.
But that wasn’t the end to this deputy’s harrowing day. Buckman also saw a motorcyclist that had been thrown off his bike into a tree as he was making his way home. He stopped and got help, performing medical aid until EMS arrived.
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