Altus Air Force Base Hero Published Aug. 28, 2008 By Jamie Rodrigues 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Altus NCO and friend save lives at apartment fire. A staff sergeant assigned to Altus AFB, Okla., is being hailed as a hero after evacuating more than a dozen people and containing a potentially deadly apartment fire early Saturday in Altus. Staff Sgt. Ken Williams, a KC-135 publications manager for the 97th Operations Group, was returning home with a friend, Mr. Kurt Cradock, when Sergeant Williams noticed smoke coming from the roof of the apartments across the street. "When I saw the smoke I never thought about what to do next," Sergeant Williams said. "All the military training kicked in and I just did it." The former volunteer firefighter immediately started knocking on doors to wake the occupants of the building. Residents of three of the five townhouse apartments responded and evacuated, but the rescuers got no response from within the fourth and fifth apartment. Sergeant Williams found the front door to the fourth apartment was unlocked and proceeded in with a flashlight. On the second floor, in a smoke-filled room, he noticed two people sleeping in their bed. The sergeant woke both of them and led them to safety. In the fifth apartment, Sergeant Williams noticed a fire and a man in the kitchen on the verge of losing consciousness. With the help of Mr. Cradock, the rescuers got the man out of the apartment. The 11-year Air Force veteran immediately went back in and battled the blaze to keep it from spreading. The Altus Fire Department soon arrived and took over at the scene -- but not before the two good Samaritans had evacuated everyone with only minor smoke inhalation.