On the morning of May 26th, Indian River County Sheriff’s Deputies Cameron White, Romeo Santana, and Sergeant Jeremy Shepherd responded to a structure fire at 97 Springlake Drive. When they arrived, they entered the apartment building which was fully engulfed, and rescued six elderly residents. Some of the elderly residents were carried out by the deputies. Deputy White was first on scene and had to be evaluated by Indian River Fire Rescue for smoke inhalation.

Indian River County Sheriff Deryl Loar stated, “Had Deputy White, Deputy Santana, and Sergeant Shepherd not arrived on scene as fast as they did, we would have had casualties in that fire. As Fire Rescue arrived on scene, Deputy White and Sergeant Shepherd were clearing the last of the apartments, which were already filled with smoke and pieces of roof were falling on their heads. The deputies did not hesitate to enter the apartment and put their lives in danger to rescue the elderly residents.”