Heath Martin

Heath Martin rescued Joshua Unglesby from burning, Springboro, Ohio, June 23, 2023. Unglesby, 36, who uses a wheelchair, was asleep alone in a rear bedroom of his one-story house when the lithium battery in the pressure cushion of his wheelchair seat exploded next to his bed and set the bedroom on fire. He called 911 and scrambled onto the floor at the back of the room as flames engulfed it. Martin, 47, a police officer, was on duty nearby and responded to the 911 call, and a dispatcher gave him the home’s garage door code because the front door was locked. He wrote the code on his hand, entered the smoke-filled house through the garage, and called out for the homeowner. Realizing Unglesby was in the back, master bedroom, Martin ran down a 25-foot-long hallway to the bedroom door and threw it open. Thick black smoke hit him in the face, forcing him back. He heard Unglesby calling for help and told him he could not reach him because of the smoke. Martin then ran down another hallway to the front door of the house and opened it for responding firefighters and to get air. He then ran back to the burning bedroom and, this time, got down on his knees and crawled inside to find Unglesby. Crawling through thick smoke and flames and past the wheelchair, he found Unglesby in the back corner and picked him up. He tripped and the two fell. Martin then grabbed Unglesby under his arms and, facing backward, dragged him out of the room and down the hallway to the front door and to safety. Tired and coughing from smoke inhalation, he let the homeowner rest against his legs on the front porch as firefighters arrived. Unglesby suffered burns and continued to recover. Martin suffered minor burns and smoke inhalation but recovered.