Josué Alfredo Contreras saved Reina Alvarado and Rene Alvarado from burning, San Francisco, California, January 13, 2023. Reina, 67, and her husband, Rene, 71, were trapped in their third-floor apartment as fire engulfed the rear of the three-story building, filling the top two floors with thick smoke. Across the street, Contreras, 35, was working at his job checking identifications at a bar when he smelled smoke and then saw the fire. He ran to the building next to the one on fire to help an acquaintance, who was evacuating his family. When a man outside the burning building shouted that his parents, the Alvarados, were upstairs, Contreras immediately ran inside and up the stairs to the third floor, where he found Reina near the stairwell as the rear of the building burned and smoke filled the apartment. Contreras held her by the arm walked her down the stairs to safety. He then ran back up the stairs as the smoke grew thicker and the fire more intense. He found Rene sitting on his bed and dragged him out of the room. Unable to see because of the smoke, he became disoriented and could not find the stairs. Then, the lights flickered, momentarily illuminating the stairs. He pushed Rene toward them, followed behind, and held Rene by the arm and guided him downstairs to safety. The Alvarados were not injured, Contreras reported heaviness in his chest, but recovered without medical treatment.
