The fire was already inside the apartment when Jonathon Baez responded.
It was February 18, 2022, in Mesa, Arizona. Two sisters, ages 2 and 6, were trapped in a bedroom on the second floor of an apartment building. Flames had broken out inside the apartment, and smoke was pushing through the space.
Baez was nearby.
He was 25 years old and worked as a painter. He was not part of a fire crew. He was simply close enough to see that the situation needed an answer before one arrived.
He first entered the front of the building.
The conditions there were too severe.
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Baez retreated.
That could have ended the attempt. The obvious route had failed. The fire and smoke had already made the front approach unsafe.
He went to the rear of the building instead.
Behind the apartment, Baez climbed onto a 6-foot-tall storage shed. From there, the broken bedroom window was still about 6 feet above him. Dense smoke came from the opening. Flames burned on a nearby balcony.
Baez jumped up and reached the window.
He pulled the frame off to make space.
Then he jumped again, entering through the broken window up to his waist. Just inside, he found the younger girl. He lifted her, held her against his body, backed out to the shed, and handed her to an officer waiting there.
One child was out.
Then Baez learned the older girl was still inside.
He returned to the window.
This time, he climbed fully into the bedroom.
Inside the smoke, he moved on his hands and knees. He searched toward the closet, about 10 feet from the window. At one point, he had to retreat for fresh air.
Then he went back.
He found the older girl’s hand, grasped it, lifted her, and stood. Carrying her through the smoke, he returned to the window and handed her down to another officer who had climbed onto the shed.
Then Baez exited through the same opening.
Both girls were taken by ambulance to the hospital. They were treated for smoke inhalation. The younger girl also had cuts to her thigh, feet, and one hand.
Both recovered.
Baez suffered minor smoke inhalation and a cut to his right hand. He recovered without medical treatment.
The rescue did not work through the first door.
So he found another route.
Then, when one child was out, he went back for the other.
What He Did And Why It Is Worth Noticing
Jonathon Baez climbed onto a storage shed, entered a smoke-filled second-floor apartment through a broken window, removed a 2-year-old girl, then reentered and found her 6-year-old sister in a closet.
That is what he did.
It is worth noticing because the first entry failed and the second entry did not end with the first rescue. Baez had to change access points, climb through smoke, retreat for air, then return again.
The fire did not offer a clear path.
He made one through the window.
Two girls were trapped in a burning apartment. Baez climbed up, reached in, and brought them out.
That changed what happened next.
If the front entrance failed and smoke was pouring from the only remaining window, would you still climb up?