PORTAGE, Mich. — It seems like you can buy anything from Amazon these days. That ingredient you need? Delivered. A gift for that birthday in a few days? In your mailbox.
Your own amateur firefighter? On your front step.
That's in the form of Cedric Figures, a four-year Amazon employee and first-time life-saver. He was making a delivery in a Portage senior living community recently when a delivery found him.
“I noticed it was a fire once I got close to the door. He started screaming for help," he said.
Cedric saw an elderly resident stuck in his burning kitchen.
Portage Fire Captain Mark McCoy and firefighter Josh Vanoverbeek were there to see the aftermath.
“His walker actually hit the stove. And that's what started the flame," explained Mark.
They couldn't believe what they saw next.
“We go there probably a couple times a day. And the same thing a lot of cooking sets up the smoke detectors," said Mark. “But it was the real thing.”
Firefighting is not in the job description. But that couldn’t stop Cedric.
"I grabbed a fire extinguisher, didn't know how to use it , but once we figured it out together… I put it out," Cedric said. "He seemed panicked... so I just helped him outside.’
He called in the big guys.
“I called dispatch and was like, 'Yo, I just put out a fire!' They couldn't believe it either," said Cedric.
But it seems the work was already done.
“He actually put the fire extinguisher back and then went gotten this truck and started making deliveries again," said Mark. “I mean, he literally put the fire extinguisher back. He didn't even set it on the ground."
Doing the job he came there to do — and then some.
“I looked down at the address and I looked at the house I'm like 'Oh, here you go sir. Hope you know your day gets better,' and went back to work," laughed Cedric.
“There's really no words for what what he did that day," Josh said.
But it seems one comes to mind.
“That was a true act of heroism," said Mark.
"My morals wouldn’t let me just walk away from that situation," said Cedric. "It's like perfect timing.”
“I was just raised to be you know, just morally treat people how you want to be treated… So thank my mom for that," he said.
They say you can’t buy luck, but you can buy two-day shipping. It seems those are one in the same for Cedric Figures.
Portage Fire made it clear that they’re hiring heroes like Cedric, but he will be pursuing a cyber security degree at Michigan State next year — all while delivering on his Amazon route, of course. Cedric is also an entrepreneur, running a phone repair business on the side. You can follow their Instagram here.
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