Let me set this up.
Lamberto Bahena was out on his porch having a few drinks with a couple of family members around two Monday morning. Just about the time they were going to call it a night - he noticed smoke about 300 feet away.
The West Valley City man ran toward the mobile home where he saw the smoke. Then he saw the flames and he ran from the East side of the trailer to the West side and started yelling and banging on the door. He woke up the woman inside and her father in law. Then he jerked open the door and helped the woman escape with her 2 month old and 23 month old daughters. Wow! Meanwhile the man inside dove out a window to get out of the house. The woman, Jessica Bown, told me that "Because of him, I am still here and my kids are still here."
I interviewed Lamberto about what he did and how it all happened. He recounted the story with more details and his limited English. Then when I asked him if he realized what he had done he got chocked up. A tear rolled from his eye, then another. He couldn't speak for brief moment (you know that feeling when you know if you talk your going to break down) and then said "It's hard."
He said he just reacted when he saw the fire. He said he did what anyone else would have done. Yes, some people would have done the same thing. But a lot of people would have dialed 911 and yelled - they wouldn't have gone inside. But here we were 8 hours afterwards and the moment actually sunk in. The lives of those two little girls no doubt ran threw his mind. I was touched by the moment I was touched by Lamberto's heroic act and I was glad to meet someone who had just saved another - four times over.
*Check out the story and Lamberto's interview:
http://www.abc4.com/content/news/state/story/West-Valley-man-saves-four-lives/ZlzANTudQk-DrLgv3cgNPg.cspx
