The top brass at Burlington’s fire department were grateful enough to three area residents for their life-saving intervention that they made a point of saying it twice – first in English and later in Spanish.
The fire department delivered this bilingual commendation during a city council meeting on Tuesday to recognize the timely assistance that Delmar Bejarano, his wife Nilian Mejia, and their neighbor Rudis Hernandez rendered last month during a house fire along Oakcrest Court.
Burlington’s fire chief Matt Lawrence recalled that the trio sprung into action when they noticed a neighbor trapped inside the home when it caught fire on April 17.
“Mr. Bejarano, with help from Mr. Hernandez, broke a window and pulled the resident to safety, while Mrs. Mejia called 9-1-1,” Lawrence went on to add. “Without their intervention, the outcome of this incident would’ve been much worse…and I think this is a prime example of some of the neighbors who make Burlington such a great place to live.”
In deference to the linguistic backgrounds of the honorees, Lawrence called on firefighter Dail Hernandez to reiterate his remarks to them in Spanish. In the meantime, the fire chief presented each of the three residents with a “citizen’s life-saving commendation,” before mayor Jim Butler descended from the dais to share his congratulations.
