Sacramento-area man saves family in car wreck, later gets billed by first responders

Fair Oaks' Derrick DeAnda thought he was doing a good deed when he pulled over to rescue a man and his children after their van rolled over in an accident. The local Sacramento emergency services unit hadn't yet arrived, so DeAnda busted the windshield of the vehicle on its side so that the family could crawl out of the car and away from danger.

"I pulled up right as it happened," he told CBS Sacramento. "There was a guy standing inside the van, because it was on its side, holding a 2 year-old infant."

The Cosumnes Fire Department corroborated the rescue.

"[Mr. DeAnda] stopped at the scene, and immediately went to work to remove the windshield so that he could help the family out of their vehicle," a statement released by the Fire Department stated. "I am sure the family took great solace in knowing that Mr. DeAnda, a perfect stranger, was there for them while emergency crews responded."

Due to his heroic actions, the family got out safely, but in the process of freeing them, DeAnda received what he calls "a small scrape" on his hand. He was given a bottle of water to rinse it, and had his pulse checked by the emergency technicians who arrived later.

However, as he found out a few weeks later, that tiny "injury," as the Cosumnes Fire Department called it, may cost him nearly $150.

"A couple months later I get a bill for $143 for a bottle of water???" he wrote in a Facebook post after receiving a bill from the fire department. "Makes you wonder why people don't want to stop to help at an accident scene. All I can say is the look on the man's face when I was able to break that windshield and get him and his kids out of that vehicle was all the thanks I needed. I'm glad I was able to help. But now I have a bill to pay and they won't let it go."

Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Chief Tracey Hansen confirmed that DeAnda was billed a $143 "first responder fee," but stated that fire staff cannot waive the $143, even for "good Samaritans." Rather, "the Board is the only body that can waive the First Responder Fee, once an appeal has been made."

She went on to say that the department will be "initiating the appeals process on his behalf to have the fee waived."

Since the statement release on Tuesday, "nothing else is going forward" at the moment while the department waits for DeAnda to return their call. Stating to SFGATE that they are beginning the appeals process anyway, Battalion Chief Kris Hubbard adds, "We are hoping he reaches out."

Inform Inform Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Sacramento-area man saves family in car wreck, later gets billed by first responders 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Alyssa Pereira is a staff writer for SFGATE. Follow her here on Twitter.