A season for heroes.(THE GOODNESS OF AMERICA)(citizens who rescued victims of fire)

Each day, thousands of firefighters, police officers, and other emergency personnel put their lives on the line, performing heroic deeds as part of their daily routine. To those unsung heroes, we always wish to express our gratitude, and never want to take them for granted. Many lives are no doubt changed daily because of their self-less actions, without most of us even being aware of it. However there are times when action is needed prior to the arrival of official emergency workers, and that's when everyday Americans step up and put their lives on the line to help their fellow men.

This winter so far has exemplified that concept. It seems it has been the season for fires--and for heroic rescues. So many people have valiantly risked their lives throughout the past few months that we cannot name them all for lack of space, but here are the stories of just a few of these brave souls:

Jorge Rivera, a 22-year-old Comcast employee, was driving to an appointment on December 7 in Silver Spring, Maryland, when he noticed smoke coming from an apartment building. He then spotted a woman dropping a young girl from the third floor to escape that smoke. Without hesitation, Rivera pulled over, grabbed the ladder from his truck, and ran toward the fire, helping six residents of the building escape the flames. According to the Washington Post, when firefighters arrived on the scene "there was little rescue to be done," thanks to Jorge's quick thinking. Not counting himself a hero, Rivera told the Post, "It was nothing. I got two kids at home. If they were somewhere burning, what would you do?" After his derring-do, the cable guy calmly proceeded to his appointment down the street.

John Bleheen and another neighbor used a 40-foot ladder to rescue a couple from the third floor of a burning home in Dorchester, Massachusetts, on December 31. Four of the six residents had been able to escape the flames, but two were trapped on the balcony of the third floor. "I was looking up and there was a young couple calling for help," Bleheen told Boston's WBZ-TV. He and the neighbor set up the ladder and helped the couple climb down. "The smoke coming out was intense," Bleheen said. "We got the lady down first and then the man second." Thanks to the good Samaritans, everyone was safely out of the building by the time firefighters arrived. Bleheen also refuses the title of "hero." "I wouldn't call myself a hero," he said. "You would have done the same thing. Everybody got out alright, and that's the main thing."

Tiffiny and Michael Kaszuba worked as a team to rescue an Omaha, Nebraska, woman from her burning home on New Year's Eve. After seeing smoke and flames coming from the house across the street, the couple ran over to help. Michael plowed right into the flames and pulled the woman, who was in flames, from her bedroom. "He went in there like Superman," Tiffiny told MSNBC. Michael patted out most of the fire on the woman with his hands and a sweatshirt. Then Tiffiny took over helping the woman while Michael attempted to control the blaze with a fire extinguisher until firefighters arrived. Tiffiny put out the rest of the fire on the woman, led her to the Kaszubas' home, and covered her with wet towels until medical help arrived. The woman was airlifted to a hospital in critical condition, and Michael suffered smoke inhalation.

A Pacifica, California, woman tragically died in a blaze on January 2 but, thanks to a good Samaritan, her son was saved. Patrick Walter, 32, a neighbor, saw the flames at the home and tried to alert the occupants. He pounded on the door at the back of the house, where the bedrooms are located, but got no response. So he broke through the window of the bedroom where John Jones, 48, was sleeping, and brought him outside to safety. "He literally shook John awake and dragged him out of bed and outside to safety," a neighbor told the Pacifica Tribune. Walter tried to save the mother, too, but was unable to get through the flames. Firefighters later ascertained she had been immediately overcome by smoke, so rescue was impossible anyway. Others in the neighborhood expressed great respect for Walter, who literally risked his life to save Jones. Walter just felt bad that he was unable to save the mother as well.

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