By Susan Smiley
The Macomb Daily, Mount Clemens, Mich.
MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham called the efforts of three of his deputies “heroic” today after they rescued two people and a dog from a burning home in Macomb Township Wednesday morning.
Deputies Zachary Deng, Johnathon Korte, and Thomas Bartoli responded to a fire call on the 46400 block of Leanna Drive, in the area of 21 Mile and Heydenreich roads, at approximately 1:24 a.m. along with Macomb Township Fire and EMS.
“I sincerely commend the valiant efforts of these deputies in this life-threatening situation,” said Wickersham. “They acted swiftly and selflessly, preventing an even greater tragedy from occurring.”
According to the Macomb County Sheriff’s Department, Deng was the first to arrive on scene and said he could see flames through the closed front door window. Upon entering the home, he saw one individual and instructed her to leave immediately. He saw a male seated in a chair, engulfed in flames.
Deng attempted to smother the fire with a blanket but was unsuccessful.
Korte and Bartoli arrived on scene with fire extinguishers and entered the home, which they described as being filled with heavy black smoke that made it difficult to breathe.
Deng began sweeping the chair and flames with a fire extinguisher; but he had to exit the home due to being unable to breathe.
Korte then took over sweeping the flames with another extinguisher until it was empty, while another deputy removed the family dog, Keeva, from the home.
Bartoli then re-entered the home with the first extinguisher and was able to put out the remaining flames as Macomb Township firefighters arrived on scene.
Both residents inside were taken to area hospitals for treatment. The male is currently in stable condition; the female has been released. The three deputies we also seen for smoke inhalation and have all been released.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
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