Pulling people out of burning buildings is a family tradition in the Cercos household.
Grandpa got an award for doing it. Dad got one, too. And now San Francisco Fire Department Battalion Chief Frank Cercos is getting the very same award — Firefighter of the Year for Valor.
“Helping people is what we’re here to do,” Cercos said. “You can never run away from your name.” Cercos, a 25-year veteran, is getting his citation for what happened some months ago when a pile of oily rags caused a fire to break out in an apartment building at Polk and Jackson streets and a woman in her 70s was trapped on a third-floor balcony.