Sanitation workers save elderly woman from house fire in Mt. Clemens

MT. CLEMENS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Three sanitation workers are being called heroes after spotting a house fire and rushing to help those stuck inside.

The Priority Waste workers were on their regular route in Mt. Clemens, loading trash into their truck, when they saw a home on Inches Street emitting smoke. 

Driver Gary Whitcher called out to his co-workers, dialed 911, and began sounding the horn. The other two workers, Orberto Altman and Keeyon Beaty, raced to check if anyone was inside the residence.

The cameras on their work truck captured the chaos.

"Someone is in there, it looks like," Whitcher can be heard saying in the footage. "Someone's in the house."

An elderly woman and her chihuahua were stuck inside at the time of the fire. 

"He kicked down the door, he got the fire extinguisher, went in there for a second and then came out because the smoke was so bad," Whitcher said.

As Mount Clemens police and firefighters arrived, Altman and Beaty helped rescue the woman through a window. However, the dog died despite firefighters performing CPR.

While the woman suffered smoke inhalation, she refused medical attention, according to the fire department. 

"Out of all the times for us to get there, it's when she's in trouble, so I feel like it was meant to happen," Beaty said.

"I feel good that I could save a life – that we were there at the right time," Altman added.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.