Fire Authority Awards 1st Medal of Valor
The Orange County Fire Authority draped its first Medal of Valor around the neck of Buena Park resident Dennis Koehler for saving the life of a fire victim.
Dennis Koehler
Koehler was picking up his children from a Buena Park day-care center in May when he heard screams coming from an older wooden house that was engulfed in flames.
Wearing just a T-shirt, shorts and slippers, he fought thick smoke and flames to rescue 60-year-old Joyce Rodden from the building. He tried to rescue another but was driven back by intense heat, authority officials said.
After receiving the authority’s highest honor last week, Koehler thanked his parents: “It was their inspiration that gave me the courage to do this.”
Koehler, 37, is a master sergeant with the 40th Infantry Division of the California Army National Guard, based in Los Alamitos.
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