North Las Vegas Councilman Isaac Barron speaks with Jose Alvarado after he was presented with a medal for heroic actions, Wednesday, May 20, 2020. Alvarado and another man, Vincent Torres, rescued two men from a burning house fire this past weekend.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020 | 8:10 p.m.
Jose Alvarado would have been at work on any other Saturday morning. Two nearby residents in his North Las Vegas community are sure glad he wasn’t.
Alvarado was grabbing tools from his truck when cracking glass and plumes of black smoke alerted him to a possible catastrophe unfolding next door. Now credited for saving the lives of his neighbors, he said it was “pure luck” that he was even home to help.
North Las Vegas Fire Department officials said the victims likely would have perished if not for the alert thinking of Alvarado and Vincent Torres, each of whom on Wednesday were awarded the Medal of Valor from the department. It’s the highest civilian honor bestowed in the city.
They were honored near the burned house in the 600 block of Glendale Avenue, where the scent of charred wood from the fire four days earlier was still noticeable.
Thinking his neighbors were sleeping through a blaze, Alvarado, 41, ran to their house and began to aggressively knock on the door to alert them to the fire. But nobody answered — one was sleeping; the other is a double amputee who is immobile, officials said.
Once the sleeping neighbor finally awoke, he was able to escape the house without serious injury. But when he began yelling the other man’s name, Alvarado realized there was someone else trapped inside.
That man, who previously lost his legs, was able to maneuver himself into the living room. Smoke filled the house, but Alvarado spotted the neighbor’s hand through the darkness, dragging him out to safety.
That’s when Torres appeared and carried the victim away from the fire. The man suffered significant burns and remains hospitalized at University Medical Center.
Fire officials say the blaze was accidental and caused when one of the victims was trying to refill a butane lighter. Monetary damage was estimated at $150,000. The actions of good Samaritans could not be priced.
“There’s still a lot of good people around,” Fire Chief Joseph Calhoun said in the small ceremony, cognizant that it was occurring during a global pandemic.
“When things seem uncertain, unsure, we definitely want to take the opportunity to celebrate the good things that are going on in this world, and let everybody know that there is still good for us to celebrate in humanity.”
Though he didn’t hesitate to help, Alvarado said it was a “pretty scary feeling” running inside a burning house, not knowing if it would explode or if he would burn.
But when someone needs help, “you just do it because it’s human nature, man. I think anybody would do it, anybody. Doesn’t matter if you’re white, black or green, you just have to do it.”
Instead of basking in the honor, which he described as a “nice” feeling, Alvarado acknowledged the firefighter profession. Torres didn’t attend the ceremony.
“They’re great people” who rush into danger not overthinking the risk to their lives, Alvarado said. “It’s an amazing thing they do every day, so, we’re lucky we have them — we’re very lucky.”
Eugenia Alvarado wasn’t surprised by her husband’s actions because he’s always willing to help others, whether it’s a home improvement project or with money. He’s the type of person who wouldn’t think twice about risking his life for someone else, she said.
“Thank God the two people were saved,” she said.
After the ceremony, firefighters showed Alvarado’s juvenile daughter and three boys their firetruck. His girl waved at them as they drove away.
“Thank you for coming out,” Alvarado told the officials there. “You guys are great. I wasn’t really expecting this at all.”
