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FRESNO, California (KSEE) — A man who rushed into a burning Fresno, California home, carried out an elderly man trapped inside, and then disappeared has returned to meet the man he saved.
His name is Thomas Artiaga, and he says running toward the fire was simply the right thing to do.
"I seen his daughter and niece trying to help and get him out, and he couldn't really walk that well, so I just picked him up and carried him out," Artiaga said.
Artiaga doesn't like to think of himself as a hero, but for the man he saved there's no denying his actions were heroic.
"After he got me out of there and let me down I realized what he'd done," Robert Wells said. "He helped me out tremendously."
Those split-second heroics earned Artiaga overnight fame, something he says all started with just wanting to help.
"We all should help sometimes," he said.