Vernonia boy honored for life-saving heroics

VERNONIA, Ore. -- He saved his grandmother's life and now he has the plaque to prove it.

Seth Cutright, the 12-year-old boy from Vernonia who carried his grandmother out of their burning house last month, received an award Saturday from the paramedics who treated him.

Cutright suffered burns to his face after the incident, which was caused after a leaking propane heater exploded, but a month later, he blends into the audience at his own award ceremony.

Cutright brought some of his friends to the ceremony and now he's a local celebrity. Saturday was the first time many of the paramedics and firefighters who were on the scene that day have seen Cutright since the day of the fire. It's also the first time the Vernonia Fire Department has given one of these life saving awards to anyone.

"I'm like, 'Whoa. I didn't know there would be that many people here,'" Cutright said of the media turnout.

As for the award itself, it will probably hang over the couch in the Cutright family home.

"I'm gonna get him another that says Bubba Gump Shrimp," Cutright's father said.

The reason? Bubba is Cutright's nickname.

"My sister, when  she was a tiny baby, she couldn't say Seth," Cutright said.

After Saturday, most people will know the name of Seth Cutright in Vernonia.