Deputy Who Braved Blaze in Rescue Bid Is Honored : Valor: Robert Anderson defied smoke inhalation, burns and cuts when he repeatedly groped for a 73-year-old woman in a Laguna Niguel inferno.

Sheriff’s Deputy Robert D. Anderson, who braved intense heat and smoke in a daring attempt to rescue a 73-year-old woman, was awarded the Orange County Medal of Valor on Tuesday.

The medal, the county’s highest award for bravery, has been presented to just 12 other people since it was created in 1982. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to bestow it on Anderson, with Chairman Gaddi H. Vasquez commending the deputy for “putting his life on the line.”

Anderson, 30, modestly accepted the award and congratulations of the board members.

“I really am speechless,” he said. “I feel a police officer’s job is to protect and serve. And that’s all I really wanted to do. I just wanted to get in there and save a life.”

It was just after 9 a.m. on May 28, when Anderson, who works in Laguna Niguel, spotted smoke coming from the condominium where Nanette Merrifield lived. A widow, she had lived in the condo for the last 17 years, the last several of which were by herself.

As he arrived, Anderson found neighbors gathering in front of the condo. They feared that Merrifield might be trapped inside.

He crawled between burning walls and across burning carpet in his bid to find Merrifield but was pushed back by the heat and dense smoke.

“It was a total inferno,” Anderson said the day after the blaze, as he was recovering from smoke inhalation. “The flames were so intense, I couldn’t raise my head. I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face.”

Still, Anderson kept going back.

“At that point, the average person would have said: ‘This is a good place to get killed,’ ” County Fire Department Capt. Dan Young recalled Tuesday. “But he wasn’t foolhardy. He had a complete understanding of how serious this was. He took in a garden hose because he knew how hard it would be to get back out.”

With only the hose to protect him, Anderson tried twice more to find Merrifield inside the condo.

Finally, suffering from smoke inhalation, burns and cuts to his hands, Anderson stumbled back outside and collapsed on the front lawn as firetrucks arrived.

Despite his efforts, he could not locate Merrifield, whom firefighters eventually found slumped in a corner of the garage.

Merrifield had no vital signs, but paramedics restored her breathing. Still, she died on her way to a hospital.

Anderson was also hospitalized, but he has recovered fully and is back at work, officials said.

Even though Anderson’s search came up empty, county supervisors and several of Merrifield’s neighbors said Tuesday that the deputy’s bravery had touched and impressed them.

“His was clearly an act of heroism,” Supervisor Vasquez said. “He was willing to take the chance of sacrificing his life.”

Roscoe R. Felmagle, who lives across the street from the condo, heartily agreed.

“He kept going in there,” Felmagle said. “He grabbed that hose and went right in. He deserves that honor, all right. He sure does.”