DETROIT — A Detroit firefighter was honored for rescuing a two-year-old girl from a fatal house fire in December.
The Detroit Free Press reported John Henderson was awarded the Van Buren Township Public Safety Department’s Medal of Honor, the first given in the department’s history, for saving Amariyana Wells.
Fire Chief Dan Besson said Henderson was the first firefighter to arrive at the fire. Upon arriving, Henderson realized he did not have his helmet. He went into the house anyway and searched until he found Amariyana and carried her out.
Amariyana’s 14-year-old uncle and a high school student were killed in the fire.
Once Henderson rescued Amariyana, who had third-degree burns on her back, arms and legs, he drove the ambulance to the hospital so paramedics could treat her.
“Every time we train, we think about ... we gotta save the baby and this is the one time it actually paid off,” Henderson said to MLive.com. “I’ve been in a number of hot fires, but never had to do anything like that or go into one like that.”
Several other first responders were also recognized during the meeting.