Teen Neighbor, Mailman Honored For Rescuing BA Woman From Fire

The city of Broken Arrow honored two guys Tuesday night, who rescued a woman from a burning home earlier this month.

That fire on August 6 damaged LaFonna Burchfield's home and put her in the hospital for several days.

One of her rescuers said he never should have been on her street that afternoon.

Mike Mohr is a mailman, but LaFonna Burchfield delivered him a message of gratitude Tuesday. It was the first time they'd seen each other since Mohr helped pull Burchfield from her burning home.

"I just said, 'What do you say to a man who saved your life?' I don't know, but I'd be dead without them," Burchfield said.

8/6/2013 Related Story: Teenage Neighbor, Mailman Pull Broken Arrow Woman From Burning Home

Mohr and 17-year-old Juan Rodriguez are humbled by the recognition they've received for what they call "just being in the right place at the right time."

"That was really amazing, I didn't expect any of this just from doing what I did," Rodriguez said. "It seems like that's what anyone would have done, but I keep finding out that, no, they wouldn't."

But Mohr said he was actually in the wrong place at the wrong time when the fire broke out. He just happened to switch up his route that fateful day to put him right in front of LaFonna Burchfield's house when smoke started billowing out of the garage.

Mohr ran inside and Rodriguez, who lives nearby, followed.

"She saw us, she said, 'I need help,' so we got on either side of her, helped her, walked her out to my mail truck," Mohr said.

Burchfield had smoke inhalation and burns on her face. She spent four days in the hospital and she's moving slowly, but wanted to thank Rodriguez and Mohr in person.

8/7/2013 Related Story: BA Woman Pulled From Burning Home Searching For Missing Schnauzer

"Because the people that saved my life were making the effort to come, how could I not come?" Burchfield said.

The same way they carried her out of the smoke, Burchfield's rescuers helped her stand for pictures.

"I've never had to go into a burning building before, and hopefully it doesn't ever present itself again," Mohr said.

Mohr said he went on and finished his mail route after he helped rescue Burchfield from the fire that day.

LaFonna Burchfield is staying with a relative because of the damage to her home.