President Trump Presents AZ Firefighter with Medal of Valor

A Peoria firefighter received a National Medal of Valor from President Trump at the White House earlier this week.

Stephen Gunn faced intense fire conditions when he rescued a man at a 2016 house fire, AZCentral.com reports.

The fire department called the incident a home invasion and arson fire and Gunn was the first one inside the structure.

"For nearly 40 seconds, firefighter Gunn worked inside the blaze, helmet melting, turnouts blackening and skin burning," fire department spokesman Tim Eiden said.

He located the man and passed him to other firefighters as the room flashed over.

Gunn received burns, but returned to work on his next shift.

"I never would have imagined that it got to this level," Gunn told Fox 10 Phoenix. "It's still kind of surreal." 

"There were three other guys on that truck with me that night, and we all had a different role or responsibility on this particular call," he said. "If those roles or responsibilities had gone to anyone else, they would've done the same exact thing."

The National Medal of Valor is the highest award for valor a public safety officer can receive.