2 Commended for Rescuing Man From Fire

Two Los Angeles County residents have been commended by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department for risking their lives to rescue a 53-year-old Camarillo man from his burning apartment in August.

Donna Lambe, 36, of Palmdale and Greg Wolter, 47, of Burbank rescued Jack Peterson after he fell asleep in a chair while smoking a cigarette. The cigarette started a fire in his living room.

Lambe, an off-site apartment manager who was at the complex on business, and Wolter, who was helping his mother move in next door to Peterson, smelled the smoke and ran to the rescue, said Senior Deputy Jim Aguirre.

Lambe used a master key to open the front door while Wolter tore off a rear screen door to get inside. After dragging Peterson outside, Lambe doused the flames with a fire extinguisher.

“Without thinking about their own safety, they entered this room that was on fire and saved this guy, and then Donna went back in with a fire extinguisher and put it out,” Aguirre said.