Mystery Good Samaritan Comes Forward To Meet Man He Rescued From Fresno Apartment Fire
FRESNO (CBS SF) -- A mystery Good Samaritan who pulled an elderly man away from a Fresno apartment fire in a rescue caught on camera has emerged to meet the man he rescued.
Thomas Artiaga on Monday met the man he carried out, 73-year-old Robert Wells, at the hotel Wells was staying at with his family following Saturday's fire which destroyed their home.
"I'm doing OK," Wells told Artiaga. "I'm glad you was there … I don't know where you come from or what else, but I'm glad to meet you … I appreciate this."
"No problem," said Artiaga.
Artiaga told CBS News he was passing by the fire scene and heard a woman screaming that her elderly father was still inside.
It turned out Wells was at the backyard gate, moving slowly with his path blocked by flames.
"By the time I got back there he was at the gate by the backyard," Artiaga told CBS News. "And I just picked him up and ran away with him."
"I'm just glad I was there," Artiaga told NBC News. "He couldn't really walk that well, so I just picked him up and carried him out."
Artiaga told ABC 11 Fresno that he wasn't acting bravely or courageously. "It was just an instinct, you know," Artiaga told ABC 11. "Instinct, you see someone and help out people."
"He's one of those Good Samaritans that's hard to find anymore," Wells told ABC 11.
Wells suffered slight smoke inhalation but was otherwise OK. No one else was hurt in the fire.
