A heroic act

McLeod grad faced real-world test during senior year

By Tim Emmons
temmons@casscountynow.com

This past November, Dalton Yates found himself in a situation where he had to make a split-second decision with life-threatening consequences. There was no hesitation on his part as he rushed into a burning home to save a family member.
Yates was awarded a Texas flag that had been flown over the Texas Capitol in honor of his selfless act of heroism.
Yates, who recently graduated from McLeod High School, reflected back on a moment during his senior year that few other peers have ever had to face.
What seemingly started as a routine day for Yates, turned into a harrowing late autumn ordeal that ended with him pulling his grandmother out of a burning home near his residence.
“I work with my uncle and had left there to go and pick up my little brother,” Yates recalled. “As we arrived home I noticed smoke in the direction of my grandparents’ house which is just 50 yards away from mine.”
This prompted a direct investigation by the brothers.
“I thought maybe they were burning something at first, but it seemed strange for the smoke to be on that side of the house,” Yates said. “As we got closer I instantly stood in awe as I witnessed smoke pouring out of their windows with flames pushing it skyward.”
Without hesitation, the young man zipped over to his grandparents’ house and proceeded to process the situation.
“I pulled my truck in front of their house and saw that my grandfather was already on the front porch,” Yates remarked.
“After sending my little brother to get Mom, I entered the home looking for my grandmother.”
Yates discussed how thick the smoke was the first time he entered the house, but his determination to find his loved one drove him back inside the raging inferno.
“I guess it was the adrenaline that drove me into the house without thinking, but I told myself after I couldn’t find my grandmother the first time that I wasn’t going to let her burn up inside that house,” Yates said. “I truly believe God was leading me to her because I found her and pulled her outside and away from the house. Shortly after she was able to make her way to my house on foot with my mom until the paramedics got there.”
Even after that ordeal, the young hero still had another test to face.
“I was trying to get their car out of the way so that it wouldn’t catch on fire and had to reach inside and grab their keys which had already gotten hot from the intense heat,” Yates said. “I had to toss the keys outside as soon as I picked them up because it had already began to burn my hand.”
“With pop already in the car, the electric line running to the house burned through and the live wire fell on the car,” Yates stated. “Without too much hesitation I jumped inside the car and drove out from underneath the live wire.”
Fire and live electricity have both been known to end lives on the spot, but here was a family pulled from the grips of death because of a selfless, heroic act by their grandson who just happened to be there at the right time.
Although his grandmother passed away a few days later from her sustained injuries, Yates said he would do it all over again to assure her a little more time.