Montgomery County Sheriff’s deputies honored for saving lives during fire calls

Montgomery County deputies were recognized during a recent ceremony for risking their lives during fire calls — a trend Sheriff Rand Henderson sees increasing.

Deputies have played a vital role when assisting with fire calls and several received awards, said Sheriff’s Lt. Scott Spencer in an email. 

It’s something the agency did not have the opportunity to do before, Henderson said. 

“The last few years, we’ve had several opportunities to do so,” he said. 

The sheriff’s office has responded to 420 fire calls in 2023, according to data provided by the agency. The sheriff’s office did not provide data from past years. 

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Deputies were honored during the October award ceremony at the Lone Star Convention and Expo Center for assisting the Magnolia Fire Department in a May 4 house fire. 

Around 2 a.m. that day, deputies were en route along with Montgomery County Hospital District first responders and Magnolia firefighters when they were told a woman was trapped inside.

Deputies Chris Webb and Kellar Martin were the first to arrive at the house and attempted to enter the house with no protective gear. They were forced to retreat due to the house being engulfed in flames.

Dispatcher Kassandra Covington stayed on the phone with the woman trapped inside to help guide firefighters to her location.

Deputies Clay Colson, Joel Cantu and Caadin Hogan assisted firefighters with the water hoses and performed CPR on the woman.

Several other deputies were recognized for assisting The Woodlands Fire Department. 

Around 1 a.m. on Aug. 17, Woodlands firefighters were responding to a grass fire that started to extend toward a house in the Cochran’s Crossing neighborhood. Five deputies were nearby and arrived first on scene — alerting the family inside the house who were sleeping at the time. 

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Deputies Donald Dorsey, Zachary Kiesel, Timothy Silva, Japheth Villalobos and Joshua Wright were able to safely evacuate the family and their dog.

“(The deputies) showed up and really did save the couple’s lives,” said The Woodlands Fire Chief Palmer Buck. 

The Woodlands Fire Department has nominated several deputies to be honored for their work with the fire agency, Spencer said. 

Several integrated classes and programs — which include law enforcement, firefighters and EMS — have been cited for making relationships between first responders stronger, including an integrated active shooter response class, a toy drive and softball tournaments. 

“Interagency partnerships are absolutely vital to the safety and security of our county,” Spencer said. “Working together for the same goal of public safety is something that we have always shared with our fire and ems brothers and sisters.”

First responders have all evolved as public safety providers, Buck said. 

“There’s been kind of an eraser of the line ‘I’m a cop, you’re a firefighter, you’re a paramedic,'” he said. “Everybody, regardless of agency, knows that we’re just trying to get the job done, take care of the public whenever we can. We each have are own strengths…but we all work together to make sure for the best outcome for the citizens.”