Maywood : Students Cited for Heroism

Three Maywood residents who helped rescue a woman from her burning home Sunday will receive a commendation in the next two weeks from state Sen. Art Torres (D-South Pasadena) for their heroism.

Ralph Diaz and Mike Boulay, both 17 and students at Bell High School, were also honored by Principal Mary Ann Sesma, who applauded their efforts over the school’s public address system.

“They’re terrific. They’re heroes,” Sesma said in an interview. “Those kids have done a fantastic thing.”

Besides having them featured in the school newspaper, Sesma said, school officials will arrange to have them presented to board trustees of the Los Angeles Unified School District for a special commendation.

When firefighters arrived at the Maywood home of Shirley Dietz, 63, at 6:20 p.m., she was unconscious but already out of the building, said Capt. John Laur of the county Fire Department. Diaz, Boulay and Isaias Rivera, 23, are credited with pulling Dietz out of her home and trying to put the fire out with a garden hose.

Dietz, who suffered from smoke inhalation, is in stable condition at St. Francis Hospital in Lynwood, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Laur said damage to the single-story house on the 3600 block of 52nd Street was was estimated at $40,000. The cause of the fire is under investigation, he said.