Firefighter

Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

4/15/1990

Special Act Award (Gold)

CDF Firefighters Amador Rodriguez and Louis Cannata, on April 15, 1990, performed an extraordinary act of heroism at great personal risk to their own safety and life, in the attempted rescue of a one-year old girl, trapped inside a submerged vehicle, from the swift currents of a Colorado River, near Blythe, California. At approximately 8:40 p.m., Firefighters Rodriguez and Cannata arrived at the scene where rescue efforts were well underway, and observed State Traffic Officer Reed, carrying a small boy out of the swift muddy currents of the Colorado River. Rodriguez and Cannata were advised that an infant was still trapped in the vehicle. Cannata and Rodriguez, working as a team, alternated diving into the dark waters, while risking being trapped in the vehicle themselves or being swept downstream with the unstable vehicle by the strong current. Before his second dive Cannata obtained a rope from the fire engine and was able to tie off the submerged vehicle in an attempt to stabilize it. While this helped some, it did not prevent it from moving still farther downstream into deeper water. On his third dive, Rodriguez found the infant in this car seat in the back of the car, but couldn’t open the seat belt. He came up and requested a seat belt cutter. On his fourth dive, he cut the belt and retrieved the child. Rodriquez handed the child off to waiting hands along the embankment, and then jumped into the ambulance and assisted in performing CPR en route to the hospital in Blythe.