North Texas woman honored for heroism

DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF News) – A North Texas woman who tried to save an elderly woman from drowning in a swollen creek during heavy flooding, is among the people being honored with a Carnegie medal for heroism.

The honorees include 26-year-old Tarrant County Sheriff’s Deputy, Krystal Ashley Salazar of Burleson. Officials say Salazar attempted to save a 76-year-old woman from drowning after her car was caught in a flash flood in November 2015. On duty, Salazar responded to the scene. She directed that firefighters be dispatched but concluded that the rising floodwaters afforded insufficient time for their arrival.

Unable to swim against the current, she was swept about a quarter-mile downstream, to where she was able to cling to a tree along the creek bank. Rescued by firefighters about two hours later, Salazar required hospital treatment for abrasions and bruising, but recovered. Jenkins’s car however was also swept off the bridge and carried downstream. She drowned.

The Pittsburgh-based Carnegie Hero Fund Commission announced the winners today. The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission is named for the late steel magnate and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.