Lifesaving Awards were presented to Jason Curtis and Mike Shinkle at the most recent Independence City Commission Meeting. On February 9th, Curtis arrived at work and could smell smoke. After alerting Shinkle they went outside and could see flames reflecting off of the windows of houses in the neighborhood and saw the fire at 708 Washington.
Curtis called 911 and on the way to the house met a woman running down the street toward them stating her house was on fire and people were trapped inside. Curtis and Shinkle ran up to the house and could see someone trying to escape through a window on the front porch. It was not big enough for a rescue, so they broke out the window and pulled the two victims from the residence without hesitation and unselfishly risked their lives to save the lives of other people.
