VISALIA – Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux led an emotional ceremony at the department’s headquarters while honoring one of their own with a prestigious award reserved for the bravest and most courageous officers.
Alfredo Flores was honored with the Medal of Valor for his actions while responding to a house fire in East Orosi on Sept. 24, 2024. Flores responded to the call with advice from dispatch that a small boy was trapped in the burning mobile home.
As part of the ceremony on Nov. 12, Boudreaux aired Flores’s body camera footage that shows the young officer arriving on the scene and never hesitating before running into the burning structure. Flores did not know where in the home the boy was, nor was he aware that the boy has Down Syndrome and didn’t respond verbally.
Flores entered and exited the burning structure three times, each time the thick smoke becoming more toxic and dangerous. Finally, on a fourth entry, the young boy cried out and Flores was able to locate him, scooping him up in his arms and carrying him to the safety of waiting family members. Flores briefly collapsed on the lawn from the effects of smoke inhalation.
Boudreaux noted that the most common cause of death in a house fire is not flames, but the smoke that eliminates oxygen and forces the lungs to contract making oxygen intake more difficult and ultimately deadly.
“I went down to the hospital and I walked up to Deputy Flores and I have to tell you, the deep, pungent smell of smoke was all over his hair, his skin, his uniform, to the point where I went to give him a quick hug,” Boudreaux said. “I asked if he was okay, and he said, ‘I’m fine,’ and he coughed and I could see the black soot that had caked his lungs. I said, ‘This is truly an act of heroism,’ and I hear this from my officers all the time: He said, ‘I was just doing my job, sir.’ But, it was more than that. I think if he was driving by not wearing the uniform, he would have done the same thing.”
Flores was visibly emotional at being awarded the Medal of Valor. Boudreaux commented that the honor is rarely bestowed, but that this was an ideal opportunity to celebrate an officer who went above and beyond, putting their own safety at risk without consideration in order to save the life of a young boy.
“I want to thank you with all my heart for saving my child,” the boy’s mother said at the event. “I wouldn’t know what I would have done if he was gone. God is great, God bless you.”
Boudreaux said that Flores displayed incredible humility through the event and that he was almost embarrassed by the recognition he received for his actions on that day in September. Flores saw it as his duty as a father, a member of the Orosi community and as a decent human being.
“I think about my family, my two kids, my wife – they stress out every time I wear this uniform. It is my job, it is my calling,” Flores said. “I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had to do it again. I like to think that if my kids were in the same situation, someone would do the same.”
The ceremony awarding the Medal of Valor was held at the Tulare County Sheriff Headquarters on Tuesday, Nov. 12. The ceremony was attended by several local leaders from the school district, aid workers who have helped the family of the boy navigate the difficulties of Down’s Syndrome and staff from California State Senator Melissa Hurtado’s office.
