Highland Twins Praised As Heroes For Fiery Rescues
HIGHLAND (CBS) — Twins brothers in Highland are being hailed as heroes after they helped firefighters rescue a family out of a burning house.
Christopher and Johnny Shuris were just watching TV Thursday when a fire broke out nearby at a house near Baseline at 14th and Church Streets in Highland. Just before midnight, an air conditioner reportedly caught fire and trapped eight members of Anna Ramirez' extended family in their house.
Greg Mills, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, spoke to the heroes, their mom, and the grateful family about what happened next.
"Amazing," said Ramirez. "They're like angels to me because that was my family, my whole family inside."
Ramirez says some of the injured "have some burns" but knows it could have been a lot worse. Six people were hospitalized, two were not hurt.
"Thank God, they're probably going to be fine," she said.
Her cousin Aileen suffered the most serious burns. As one heroic and anonymous police officer crawled into the burning house to save one girl, Christopher and Johnny arrived and helped rescue others from the blaze.
Johnny Shuris doesn't think he was heroic.
"I was just thinking about getting all the little kids out," he said. ""We ran up here and got the older man out and then we busted the back window."
"Having a little son of my own, and knowing there's kids in there - other human beings - you just got to do something," said Christopher Shuris.
When two girls and their cousin couldn't find their way out of their smokey room, quick action by the police and the Shuris brothers prevented what could have been a fatal disaster.
"The one little girl kept yelling 'my sister, my sister!' It was horrible," said Debora Shuris, the boys' mother. "I'm very proud of them... They're heroes. I'm sure they're heroes in those little girls' eyes."
