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Voice: March 2017
It was a cold mid-December day, and members of the Ambridge Area Education Association were on their third day of walking picket lines after contacts broke down with the Ambridge Area School District, Beaver County. Suddenly, they heard, "Call 911!"
They immediately sprinted toward the house across the street and frantically sought out the occupants before fire crews arrived.
"There was smoke coming out of the roof, and we were pounding," teacher Karen DeMarco told WTAE of Pittsburgh. "I was pounding the front door, and eventually I think the front door just kicked through."
Three people were rescued.
DeMarco and four other teachers, Todd Hartman, Jeff Modrovich, Paul Hladio, and Pete Keller, were praised by authorities for their actions.
"If the teachers wouldn't have been thereā¦ there's a chance somebody could have gotten seriously injured or even worse," said Ambridge Fire Chief Rob Gottschalk.