Martinez, Calif. — Contra Costa County Fire presented the Hero Medal to Samantha Olive Barnhouse, of Antioch, on behalf of the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission at Tuesdays Contra Costa County Fire Protection District Fire Board of Directors meeting.
Barnhouse was awarded the medal for her actions that saved the life of Lobis Burton, 78, in an apartment fire across from her own home in Antioch on Feb. 17, 2018.
According to the citation, alerted to the fire, thirty-year-old Barnhouse, who lived across the street from Burton, entered the apartment. Moving past the burning kitchen to reach Burton sitting in a wheeled desk chair in a bedroom and unable to move due to an injured hip, Barnhouse pulled the desk chair through the bedroom and into the hall as flames and smoke intensified. She moved the chair past the kitchen and to the front door, where it became stuck. Pulling on the chair to free it, Barnhouse and Burton fell through the outside door, beneath flames raging overhead.
Within moments of the rescue, the fire intensified and the apartment’s windows shattered due to the heat.
Burton was hospitalized for smoke inhalation and a broken hip, but he was not burned. Barnhouse was treated at the hospital for smoke inhalation; she recovered.
For more on the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission and medal, visit: https://www.carnegiehero.org/
Contra Costa County Fire Protection District (Con Fire) — a recognized fire service leader — provides fire and emergency medical services to more than a million people across its 304 square-mile District area, and through mutual aid, in and around the 20 cities and unincorporated communities of Contra Costa County, California. With few exceptions, county emergency ambulance transport services are provided by Con Fire through its unique subcontractor Alliance model. In 2017, the District responded to more than 92,000 fire, EMS and ambulance emergencies and provided expert medical care on nearly 75,000 ambulance transports. The District, with 25 fire stations and more than 400 employees, is dedicated to preserving life, property and the environment
