Teen honored for saving retired deputy from northeast Miami-Dade apartment fire

MIAMI — Rami Ouazza, a senior at Dr. Michael Krop Senior High School, was honored Wednesday by the Miami Police Department and the “Do The Right Thing” program for his actions in saving a retired law enforcement officer from an apartment fire last year.

“I feel outstanding,” said Rami. “It’s a great feeling to be selected for the Do The Right Thing top 10 winners.”

Early in the morning of Nov. 4, flames tore through his northeast Miami-Dade apartment building.

As residents scrambled to get out, Rami realized someone was still inside: a disabled, retired Palm Beach deputy trapped in the unit where the fire started.

“One of the first feelings was an instinct, so I woke up in the morning, thinking it was a false alarm, because it happens very often, but something inside me just felt like it was a little bit different,” Rami said.

With no time to second-guess, Rami, 17, ran back inside the burning building, braving thick smoke to help his neighbor get out alive.

“I wasn’t really worried. I was thinking about the smoke coming in my lungs, but there were more important things, making sure everybody didn’t think it was a false alarm as well,” he added. “So I was just worried about knocking on all the doors and just making sure everybody’s out.”

“Today, what you heard from Rami was nothing short of incredible — running into a home that’s on fire and saving folks,” said MPD Chief Manny Morales. “One of them (is a) retired officer. That absolutely takes an amount of bravery that I don’t think a lot of folks in our community have.”

Rami said helping others is a responsibility.

“If you’re able to defend other people that can’t defend themselves, because he was an injured police officer, I think you should go in and use your strength to go help,” he added.

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