Two Lancaster ‘Community Heroes’
Reedy, Nurse feted by Garcia at town hall in Santa Clarita
- VALLEY PRESS STAFF REPORT
- Updated
SANTA CLARITA — Rep. Mike Garcia honored Lancaster Sheriff’s Station Sgt. Collin Reddy and Deputy Jeremiah Nurse as “Community Heroes” Tuesday for rescuing a man from a burning vehicle last year, saving his life.
“These two gentlemen saved the life of one of our citizens who, you know, whether he knows it or not, these were his guardian angels that night and they represent the entire sheriff’s department,” Garcia, R-Santa Clarita, said at the town hall event held at College of the Canyons. “They do things on a daily basis that either put their own lives on the line or save others’ lives in the service that they do.”
According to the Sheriff’s Information Bureau, Reddy was on patrol Aug. 15 when he noticed there was a sudden power outage in the undisclosed area.
“His experience kicked in and knew the cause could have been a traffic collision into an electrical power utility pole or box. He searched the nearby vicinity and immediately located the traffic collision,” the bureau said in a release.
Body cam video from the scene shows an overturned car engulfed in flames. The vehicle was on top of an electrical box, the bureau said. The bureau did not provide a location of the crash.
Reddy immediately radioed for assistance as he approached the vehicle to extinguish the flames. As he approached the vehicle, he saw the driver was still inside the vehicle while flames and smoke grew more intense.
Reddy directed the driver to move toward the back of the vehicle to escape the flames.
Knowing the car could become completely engulfed in flames at any moment and without concern for any danger posed by the electric box, Reddy and Nurse reached into the smoke-filled vehicle to save the driver, the bureau said. They pulled him out of the flaming wreckage and dragged him back to safety, where they rendered immediate aid, awaiting the arrival of firefighters and paramedics.
The driver could be heard crying out for help on a video released by the department. As they pulled the unidentified man out of the vehicle and away from the fire, he said, “Burning me dawg.”
“You don’t sign up for the recognition; you just sign up to do our job and help your community members,” Nurse said in the video. “The most rewarding part of the situation is that he’ll see his family again.”
“It’s just feel like this is part of our job and this is something that goes on all over LA County daily with deputies, with law enforcement in general,” Reddy said.