YORBA LINDA : Big Brother Honored for Fire Rescue

A young Orange County hero was honored Tuesday in a ceremony on the plot of land where his home once stood.

Mike Contois Jr., 13, and his brother, Nick, 11, were sleeping in the room they shared on the first floor of their family’s Yorba Linda home when a fire broke out in the garage early March 12.

But Nick has cerebral palsy and, since he cannot walk without assistance, could not leave the house easily.

“I heard the smoke alarm and didn’t think much about it,” Mike remembered. “But then my father yelled at me to take Nick out. So I picked him up and carried him across the hallway and out of our home.

“I didn’t think it that big of a deal. I just did what I had to do.”

The house was gutted by the fire.

Word spread about how Mike rescued his brother, and many, including officials at Westec Security, a provider of residential and commercial security systems, thought his actions were a big deal. The company presented him with the Westec Award for Youth Heroism.

“Mike is a hero in every sense of the word,” said Alan Troop, president of Westec Security, as he presented Mike with a $500 savings bond, a medal and a plaque. The children’s mother, Diane Contois, said the two boys get along better since the fire.

“There’s more respect,” she said. “Before, they were typical brothers. They had their share of arguments. There’s been none at all since.”

Nick thinks that he might not be alive if it weren’t for his older brother.

“He saved my life,” Nick said. “If he didn’t (carry me out) I wouldn’t be here right now.”

Mike, who weighs 120 pounds, seemed surprised at the amount of attention he has received for carrying his 60-pound brother from the burning house.

“I can barely remember picking Nick up,” he said.

But Nick piped in: “I can still remember.”

Said Mike, patiently: “I know.”