Mount Clemens, MI – Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham praises the noteworthy efforts of Deputies Zachary Deng, Johnathon Korte, and Thomas Bartoli, for their outstanding efforts while responding to a fire call early this morning, January 10, 2024, at approximately 1:24AM.
Macomb Township Deputies, along with Macomb Township Fire and EMS, were dispatched to a home on the 46400 block of Leanna Drive in Macomb Township for a fire.
Deputy Deng was the first to arrive on scene. He could see flames through the closed front door window and attempted to kick in the door several times. Upon entering the home, he saw one individual and instructed her to leave immediately. He saw a male seated in a chair, engulfed in flames. Deputy Deng attempted to smother the fire with a blanket; however, was unsuccessful.
Deputies Korte and Bartoli arrived on scene with fire extinguishers in hand. The Deputies entered the home, which was filled with heavy black smoke making it incredibly difficult to breathe. Deputy Deng began sweeping the chair and flames with a fire extinguisher; but he had to exit the home due to being unable to breathe. Deputy Korte then took over sweeping the flames with another extinguisher until it was empty, while a Deputy removed the family dog, Keeva, from the home. Deputy Bartoli then re-entered the home with the first extinguisher and extinguished the remaining flames as Macomb Fire arrived on scene.
“I sincerely commend the valiant efforts of these Deputies in this life-threatening situation,” stated Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wickersham. “They acted swiftly and selflessly, preventing an even greater tragedy from occurring.”
Both residents were taken to area hospitals for treatment. The male is currently in stable condition; the female has been released. The three deputies we also seen for smoke inhalation and have all been released.
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