Two Danville police officers received letters of commendation, a promise of a life-saving medal at the annual awards ceremony, and a certificate from a top state safety official.

What makes Monday night's awards unusual is that Sergeant Jonathan Courtwright and Officer David Parsons are police officers, not firefighters.

They were on routine patrol a little before 5 a.m. on Sept. 2 when they heard a radio call for a fire. They were near the south Danville residence, and showed up before firefighters. They had no idea the man inside one-half of the duplex was hearing-impaired, and wasn't wearing his hearing aid.

"Nobody answered, so I kicked in the door. We went in, located the bedroom, across from where the fire began, got him up, got him out," Parsons said.

The pair got two people out of the other half of the duplex without having to kick that door in.

At the city commission meeting, the officers, both men of few words, said a few words.

"It's rewarding to be able to help somebody. That's the main thing you can take from this," said Courtwright.

Then it was back to work - because as a cop, you never know what you'll run into on the job. Sometimes, it's even a burning home.