Officials Praise Lancaster Men Who Saved Neighbor From Fire

As heroes often will, Sammy Ramos adopted the time-honored “shucks, it was nothing” attitude Monday when officials praised him and neighbor Ray Valencia for saving a 68-year-old woman from a fire in her Lancaster home.

“Everybody’s making a big deal out of it,” said Ramos, who along with Valencia rushed to the aid of neighbor Anna Mae Ray, during the fire Sunday. “I’m just satisfied that we got her out.”

Fire officials said Ramos and Valencia saved Ray from certain injury and probable death. They held a press conference with Lancaster officials Monday, lauding the two men’s bravery.

“I’ve seen too many fires like this where people died,” said Assistant Chief Leon Provost of the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

Ray was in stable condition Monday at Lancaster Community Hospital, where she was being treated for smoke inhalation, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Fire broke out in Ray’s apartment, a single-story duplex in the 45000 block of Fig Avenue, sometime after 4 p.m. Sunday, neighbors said. It apparently was caused by a cigarette that Ray dropped on a couch when she fell asleep, fire officials said.

Ramos, 44, a General Electric mechanic at Edwards Air Force Base who lives in the other half of the duplex, said Valencia, 46, who is also a mechanic, pounded on his door and said there was a fire in Ray’s apartment.

Valencia said he climbed into the apartment through a window as Ray tried to put out the fire with a cushion. “It was way beyond that point,” he said. “I finally got the back door open and Sammy went in as I went out.”

Valencia sprayed the fire with a garden hose. Ramos plunged into the smoke in search Ray, finding her standing in a daze amid the spreading flames.

“The biggest reason I was able to find her is because she was right next to the fire in the front room,” Ramos said. “It was cooking pretty bad, starting to hit the ceiling. She seemed very confused. . . . I grabbed her by both arms, turned her around and just kind of walked her out.”

Ramos, a parachutist, said that after he made sure Ray was safe, he rushed into his apartment to save his parachute. But firefighters were able to prevent any major damage there, he said.

Valencia and Ramos will be honored by the California Firefighters Assn., the county Board of Supervisors and the Lancaster City Council, officials said.

Damage to the apartment was estimated at $45,000.