Pima County (Ariz.) Sheriff Mark Napier, right, presents the Carnegie Medal to Carnegie Hero Brian Kunze, a sergeant, at an Aug. 7, 2018, Pima County Board of Supervisors meeting. Kunze was awarded the Carnegie Medal in June after the rescue of a bed-ridden, 82-year old woman from a burning home in Tucson, Ariz. In the early morning of June 18, 2016, the woman was in a one-story house when her adult daughter was assaulted by her grandson who possessed gasoline-filled bottles and a sword. The daughter fled the house. Responding Pima County Sheriff’s deputies, including Kunze, then 49, smelled natural gas inside the house and, concluding that the woman was in danger, Kunze broke open her bedroom window. As another deputy began to enter the room, a sudden explosion inside the house blew him and Kunze, who was standing outside, back. Flames briefly filled the room, then receded to a hallway. Kunze climbed into the bedroom, and moved to the woman’s bed. Kunze lifted the woman, carried her to the window, and passed her outside to deputies.
Photo courtesy of Pima County Sheriff’s Department.