Deer Park volunteer firefighter honored for saving 2 lives while off duty

<p>A Deer Park volunteer firefighter was honored for going above and beyond the call of duty.</p>

News 12 Staff

Sep 30, 2018, 9:30 PM

Updated 2,402 days ago

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A Deer Park volunteer firefighter was honored for going above and beyond the call of duty.
Bradley Tatarian was honored alongside more than a dozen Suffolk firefighters Sunday by the Vocational Education and Extension Board of Suffolk County in Brookhaven.
Tatarian was honored for saving two lives while he was off duty.
The incident happened Dec. 20, 2017, when Tatarian drove past a car accident in Levittown.
Tatarian, with the help of two other bystanders, pulled a man and a woman out of a burning vehicle just moments before the car exploded.
"I came across their car flipped over. It was on its roof. There was already fire coming out from the bottom by the engine compartment,” says Tatarian.
Tatarian says the car exploded and they got the victims out of the car just in time.
John Lorusso was the driver inside that car. He tells News 12 that he spent weeks in a coma and had a long road to recovery.
He was grateful to spend the day honoring the man he credits with saving his life.

Tatarian told News 12 he's honored to receive the award, but recognition isn't why he serves in the fire department.
Since the crash, Tatarian and Lorusso - both firemen-- have forged a friendship.