POLICE HEROISM AWARD
Tim Reid
Lieutenant, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office
Stacey Moody
Deputy, San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office
Mike Blundell
Officer, San Bruno Police Department
Adam Plank
Officer, South San Francisco Police Department
Gil Gomez
Officer, Redwood City Police Department
The city of San Bruno experienced a devastating high-pressure gas main break with an ensuing fire that took eight lives, injured more than 50 people, destroyed 37 homes and damaged many more.
On Thursday, September 9, 2010, Lieutenant Reid had just returned home from his daily assignment and was about to have dinner with his family when the tragedy struck. Lieutenant Reid’s training, experience and sheer fortitude ensured that he and his immediate family were safely able to flee the growing inferno that existed a mere eight houses from his own. Once he ensured his family was out of harm’s way, he clipped his Sheriff’s Office badge to the front of his civilian shirt and went into action.
Lieutenant Reid knew his neighborhood well and immediately went to the assistance of a bedridden neighbor to ensure she was ready for evacuation and in good hands. Soon after, he immediately identified another neighbor’s house very near the raging inferno and attempted to make contact, fearing someone still might have been inside and possibly incapacitated by the explosion. Lieutenant Reid ran to the back of the house. Using a brick, he smashed a window, crawled through the window of the now-burning home and cleared the house until he was satisfied to find no one home. Within minutes, the house was totally destroyed in the conflagration.
On this very same day, Special Agent Mike Blundell was on duty and beginning a narcotics investigation when he received a telephone call from his mother, who was very frantic and upset as she lives in the area of the explosion and endured the shocking sound and intense flames that began. Special Agent Blundell’s mother was seeking help from her son. Special Agent Blundell, who also lives in the area, enlisted the help of his friends and co-workers. Each agent donned their raid jackets and weapons and drove directly into the center of the explosion, arriving before many of the fire department trucks that responded to the explosion.
Special Agent Blundell knew the area well and together with Deputy Stacey Moody, Officer Adam Plank and Officer Gil Gomez went to the assistance of numerous residents near the epicenter of the explosion to ensure that anyone who needed assistance and guidance was provided as much. These agents went into homes that were burning and some that had already suffered structural damage in an attempt to locate anyone who needed their assistance. Deputy Stacey Moody assisted fire personnel who forced entry into a burning home and cleared the house, satisfied to find no one home.
Lieutenant Reid and the agents continued running house to house, dangerously close to the burning, high-pressured gas line, to assist the many dazed and confused residents and direct them to safety. As a direct result of these actions, the confused and frightened residents heading toward this hell on earth were rescued from entering into what many refer to as the ground zero of this incident. Many of these homes were later destroyed by the explosion.
Lieutenant Reid and the agents put themselves in danger to divert the fleeing and frightened masses of people to safety, turning around speeding and fleeing vehicles full of frightened families while exposing themselves to extreme heat and burning debris, some of which was falling from the sky like burning meteorites.
Lieutenant Reid took it upon himself to establish a security checkpoint in the neighborhood for several hours to provide direction and support for returning neighbors wishing to gather what they could. The agents assisted Lieutenant Reid in keeping the many bystanders from interfering with firefighters rushing in to battle the blaze.
The actions of these individuals during this horrific ordeal are to be commended. Their dedication offered a symbol of assurance and steadfast loyalty to the law enforcement profession.
