World News – United States – National First Responder Day: When the service calls, there are no MPs stopping

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MPs Kenneth Muller, left, and Diego Gonzalez, right, were recognized for their courage when they rescued an elderly couple from their burning house in December 2019 Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood recognized the two at a ceremony earlier this year

MPs Diego Gonzalez, left, and Kenneth Muller were recognized for their courage when they rescued an elderly couple from their burning house in December 2019Â

MPs Kenneth Muller, left, and Diego Gonzalez, right, were recognized for their courage when they rescued an elderly couple from their burning house in December 2019 Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood recognized the two at a ceremony earlier this year

MPs Diego Gonzalez, left, and Kenneth Muller were recognized for their courage when they rescued an elderly couple from their burning house in December 2019Â

For Kern County Sheriff’s Office Deputies Diego Gonzalez and Kenneth Muller, they thought the early hours of December 18, 2019, would be pretty quiet, nothing far from the ordinary

« I was sitting in my patrol car, trying to stay awake, » recalls Muller. He has been an MP for eight years and often works with Gonzalez, with whom he says he has a strong bond

“We can sync with each other If I think of one thing, he thinks two steps forward,” explained Muller “We complement each other, and that’s so important, especially when you have a job complicated and arduous like ours « 

The night quickly changed, however, when the two received information from their dispatcher around 2 a.m. that there was a fire in the street

Believing that fire trucks and staff were already on the scene, the two headed towards the blaze to provide further assistance It ended up being just them and a fast growing fire on the 5200 block of Montecito Drive

Neighbors informed the two men that an elderly couple, both in their 60s, could not be found and probably still inside the house

Muller and Gonzalez walked towards the blaze, where visibility was poor due to all the smoke As they approached the house, they saw the silhouette of a wheelchair outside the front door

« She was just sitting there and enveloped in smoke, » Muller recalls According to the KCSO Facebook page, the woman was also holding a dog

While they brought the woman to safety, her husband was still nowhere to be found Neighbors suggested checking the yard At this point the fire continued to get bigger and bigger, and into the yard was not going to be easyÂ

On the east side of the house, there was no gate, just a fence shared with the neighbor, explained Muller Gonzalez jumped over the fence to the yard, where he saw the man, who seemed disoriented, trying to put out the fire as best he could with a garden hose

Seeing that there was no way for this man to climb over the fence, Muller ended up tearing the fence apart, all thanks to his adrenaline-fueled strength

Residents and MPs were not injured in the fire Muller said he was still unsure of the cause of the blaze, but it is likely to have come from the garage

Since the incident, Muller said he sometimes walked past the scene to see construction work on the couple’s new homeÂ

This day will be forever remembered for Muller, he explained, and it showed him that law enforcement can be called upon to respond to emergencies outside of their normal duties.

Even though they were able to save two people, they don’t feel like heroes They just do their job

« Anyone in my situation in my department would have done the same, » said Muller. « I am grateful that we were able to prevent this story from being tragic »

« You enter this position knowing that you are going to put yourself in dangerous situations and potentially make the ultimate sacrifice, » he added.

First Responder, National First Responder Organization, Kern County, Deputy