WATCH ABOVE: A body camera fastened to one of the sheriff’s deputies recorded the incident.
TORONTO – A pair of sheriff’s deputies in Florida are being praised after video was released of the two officers saving a man’s life from a burning car on Christmas Day.
While many in Destin, Florida were fast asleep, anxiously awaiting Christmas morning, Deputies Eric Keyes and Joseph Trimboli were busy making sure a man’s family didn’t have their holiday ruined.
The pair responded to a call around 2:56 a.m. and found the rear of a white 2003 Lexus completely engulfed in flames with the driver still inside, windows up and doors locked.
“Honestly, I thought we were going to lose one that day,” Trimboli told the Daily News.
Deputy Keys was forced to smash the passenger side window to pull the 45-year-old driver out of the vehicle and to safety. An investigation confirmed that the driver – who was treated for minor burns and smoke inhalation – had been intoxicated at the time.
“Their actions – putting their own personal safety aside to save the life of another individual – earned deputies Trimboli and Keyes the respect of their co-workers and supervisors,” Okaloosa County Sheriff Larry Ashley said in a statement.
Trimboli and Keyes were both awarded a “Medal of Merit” and “Life Saving Award” for putting their lives at risk to save another.
“I don’t do it for the publicity,” Trimboli said. “It was just something that we knew we had to do.”
“It’s just part of the job,” Keyes added.
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