A senior living building in Southeast Washington went up in flames this week and a young firefighter who pulled a woman to safety got to officially meet the grateful 73-year-old and her family Sunday morning.
When 21-year-old Da’Von McRae first met 73-year-old Bettye Carter, there wasn’t time for much chitchat as the flames of a large fire spread in the attic above. He did have time to tell her she would be safe.
“I’m not gonna let nothing happen to you so if you go down, I go down,” Da’Von McRae recalled telling her.
Cell phone video captured the young fireman, with just a little more than a year on the job, carefully getting Carter down four stories.
“It was a team effort. I didn’t do it by myself, trust me,” said a shy McRae. McRae knows the dangers of the job he loves so much. He lost his father and fellow firefighter Lt. Kevin McRae in the line of duty three years ago.