EXEMPLARY PERFORMANCE AWARD
William Hillyard and Michael Wong
Officers, Irvine Police Department
In the early morning hours of March 12, 2010, Officers William Hillyard and Michael Wong responded to a 911 call regarding a structure fire at a condominium complex. Upon arrival, they observed that the upper-corner unit of the complex was fully engulfed in flames. A female resident of one of the units was standing on her balcony and was unable to exit due to smoke and flames. Officer Wong instructed her to jump from the balcony, but she refused and went back inside her condominium. Officers Wong and Hillyard made their way through the smoke-filled complex and met her at the front door of her unit. They assisted her down the stairs and out of the complex to safety.
Seeing that the female was breathing and being treated by Orange County Fire Authority paramedics, they re-entered the building to evacuate a male neighbor of the female resident they had just assisted. Upon reaching the neighbor’s unit, the officers instructed the male to leave the building. The resident told the officers he needed to locate his pets and went to the back of his unit. Officer Hillyard yelled for the resident to exit, but the man did not respond. With the fire and smoke filling the unit and stairwell, Officers Wong and Hillyard entered the residence to find the man staring blankly at a wall and not responding to their instructions. The officers grabbed each of the man’s arms and carried him out of his condominium and down the stairs to safety and medical aid.
The officers proceeded to evacuate all residents of nearby units without injury. According to Orange County Fire Authority, Officers Hillyard and Wong endured high-intensity fire and radiant heat levels when executing their mission. If not for the immediate action of the officers under dangerous conditions, no less than two lives would have been lost.
