MEMPHIS, Tenn. – – A couple of security guards rescued a 63-year-old man from his burning apartment Wednesday night.
It happened while Dante Evans and his partner Camron Reed were patrolling the Ridgecrest Apartment in Frayser around 9 p.m. The two men say they spotted smoke coming from an upstairs unit.
They say they raced to the door and yelled to see if someone was inside.
“We got no answer,” Evans said, “I just told (my partner), ‘Let’s take a deep breath. Let’s count to three and go in.'”
The security guards plunged into the smoke and found a man unconscious on the floor. They picked him up and carried him down the stairs, where they handed him off to first responders.
The man was rushed to Regional Medical Center with second and third degree burns to his face, arms and chest.
Investigators say the fire started in a rear bedroom, but they’re still trying to determine the cause. Evans and Reed say they’re just glad they got the man out.
“Not a hero. Just at the right place at the right time to save somebody,” Evans said.
“It’s just part of the job,” Reed said.
Reed used to be a firefighter in Lauderdale County and says he was trained at the Gates Fire Department.
“We had to do what we had to do to save that gentleman’s life,” Reed said.
Investigators say the apartment didn’t have a working smoke alarm. They also say the damage is estimated at about $14,000.