By Elizabeth Piazza
The Farmington Daily Times
AZTEC, N.M. — The quick actions of an Aztec man helped save the lives of two elderly women and a dog after a fire erupted Monday night at the Park View Apartment complex in Aztec.
Randal Rutledge, 22, was asleep around 7:30 p.m. when the fire broke out on one of the air conditioning units and quickly spread, Rutledge said.
His girlfriend, Amanda Oliver, who shares the apartment with Rutledge, noticed smoke coming in through the ventilation system and woke him. Smoke had engulfed the area by the time the two ran out of their apartment. Both immediately realized several tenants were unaccounted for, Rutledge said.
Without hesitation, Rutledge, barefoot and half-dressed, ran back into the burning building to rescue Theora Giddeon and Norma Williams.
“I hesitated but Randy ran in front of me and jumped over her doggy gate,” Oliver said. “He tried to lead (Giddeon) out but the fire was spreading to the entrance so he led her out the back. It was crazy how much smoke there was.”
Rutledge entered Giddeon’s apartment, found her asleep in bed and assisted her outside.
“It was very smoky inside,” Rutledge said. “It looked like the flames had gotten into the kitchen when I got her out.”
Once Giddeon was safe outside, Rutledge ran back into the apartment to retrieve her dog.
“I was going around the back and saw the other lady sticking her head out the window,” Rutledge said after he came out with the animal.
Rutledge ran back in a third time to help Norma Williams, 74, get out of the building.
Williams’ family is thankful for Rutledge’s selfless actions.
“I don’t know you can really give enough (thanks),” said Carrie Phelps, Williams’ granddaughter. “Had it not been for him, I don’t know it would have turned out like it did.”
Rutledge said he was doing what anyone else would have done in the same situation.
“The only thought in my mind was to keep the people that lived there safe,” Rutledge said.
He is grateful his girlfriend woke him.
“I would have slept right through it,” he said. “If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t have gotten (the women) out. The fire really took off after I got them out.”
No one was injured in the blaze, which caused significant damage to the complex. Fire officials continue to investigate, but arson is not suspected, Aztec Fire Chief Kevin Simpson said.
It started outside on one of the apartment’s air conditioning units, but it wasn’t caused by the air conditioner, Simpson said.
“It spread up the wood siding, into the eaves and into the attic,” Simpson said. The fire was controlled quickly once firefighters responded.
The San Juan Chapter of the American Red Cross responded to the Aztec Senior Center, where the residents were taken following the incident.
“Everyone went with family or close friends,” said Phyllis Lee, member of the Red Cross disaster action team.
Giddeon, the only person with no family or friends available to offer assistance, was taken to the Step Back Inn in Aztec. Her dog, with the assistance of the Aztec Police Department, was taken to the Aztec Animal Shelter until Giddeon secures a new residence, Lee said.
Red Cross officials gave Giddeon money for clothes and food and will help her find a new home, Lee said.
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