Mountain Home officer gets medal for saving woman from burning house

Sgt. Russell Griggs received the Medal of Valor at a Mountain Home City Council meeting this week for his role in the September rescue of a senior citizen who cannot walk.

Officer Brian Thomas, who has since moved to a police department in another state, received the medal at a previous event, police said in a news release.

Both officers responded to an East Jackson Street home Sept. 12 to investigate a reported family fight and discovered there was smoke coming out of the house and an elderly woman was asleep inside, police reported.

Thomas crawled on his hands and knees from room to room until he found the woman in a back bedroom. Griggs entered the smoke-filled home with a fire extinguisher and helped Thomas bring the woman to safety in her wheelchair, police said. The woman and both officers were treated for smoke inhalation.

The fire is still under investigation as a possible arson, police spokeswoman Officer Melanie Broughton said this week.

This story was originally published January 12, 2017 at 1:11 PM with the headline "Mountain Home officer gets medal for saving woman from burning house."