Officers Honored for Saving Lives in Fire Without Protective Gear

Officer Ryan Mungra and Corporal Paul Craine

Two police officers were honored for saving Rockville residents in a fire, wearing no protective firefighter gear.

According to the Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce (MCCC), Corporal Paul Craine and Officer Ryan Mungra responded to a loud explosion coming from a townhouse, engulfed in flames. Although the two men didn’t have a firefighting apparatus and they weren’t wearing any gear they entered the burning townhouse and rescued a woman.

MCCC said that the woman “told Craine and Mungra that her mother was in the kitchen, where the fire was.” After learning this information, the two officers entered the fire again and saved the mother, who had first and second-degree burns.

Investigators later learned that this woman had been trying to kill herself and had stoked the townhouse flames.

Because of their lifesaving efforts, Craine and Mungra earned a Silver Medal of Valor at the 45th Annual Public Safety Awards in North Bethesda.

MCCC said, “Craine and Mungra put themselves at great personal risk by entering a burning townhouse not once but twice to rescue the people inside. Without protective equipment, they could have been overtaken by smoke and seriously injured.”

About Deirdre Byrne

Deirdre Byrne is a social media coordinator for Montgomery Community Media. She can be reached at dbyrne@mymcmedia.org or on twitter at @DeirdreByrneMCM.

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