OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. — Oakland County Sheriff's Deputy Brandon Musse has received Citizen of the Month recognition after authorities said his quick thinking helped two boys escape from the second floor of a burning home in Orion Township.
The recognition followed a July 10 emergency at a home on Meadowbrook Court. WDIV/ClickOnDetroit reported that Musse was the first deputy to arrive after a 911 caller said two children were trapped upstairs.
A trash container became a rescue step
Authorities said Musse saw the boys at a second-story window and moved a trash container beneath it. He used the added height to help both children climb through the window before conditions inside the home worsened.
The children, brothers ages 10 and 12, were taken to Trinity Health Hospital, treated for smoke inhalation and released, according to WDIV's original July 14 report. ThinBlueNews is limiting personal details because the rescued children are minors.
Firefighters then entered the house, rescued the family's dog and extinguished the fire before it spread farther, the local reports said.
Family joins deputy at recognition ceremony
The boys and their family joined Musse for the public recognition. Their father, Michael Knight, thanked the deputy and described the rescue's lasting importance to the family.
“When you’re on the other side of it, it is absolutely a monumental thing that you’ll remember for the rest of your life, so I can’t thank you enough.”
Michael Knight, the boys' father, in WDIV/ClickOnDetroit's July 21 report
Officials credited Musse's calm assessment, improvisation and immediate action with helping the boys reach safety before the fire became more dangerous.
After the rescue, Oakland County Sheriff Michael J. Bouchard said Musse recognized that every second mattered and used the tools available without hesitation.
Recognition for decisive public-safety action
The honor puts a public face on a response that required a patrol deputy and firefighters to solve different parts of the same emergency: reaching children who could not use the normal exit, then searching the burning home and stopping the fire.
Readers can find more verified stories in ThinBlueNews' deputy sheriff hero stories, police rescue news, officer recognition and first responder news sections.
Sources and visual attribution
- WDIV/ClickOnDetroit: “Oakland County Deputy honored after rescuing children from Orion Township house fire,” published July 21, 2026. This follow-up documents the Citizen of the Month recognition, the family's participation and comments, and officials' account of Musse's actions.
- WDIV/ClickOnDetroit: “2 children saved from Orion Township house fire, deputy credited with rescue,” published July 14, 2026. The original report documents the 911 call, responding agencies, rescue method, hospital evaluation, dog rescue and sheriff's statement.
Featured-image note: This is a true frame from WDIV/ClickOnDetroit's video report showing the public recognition ceremony. It is not incident footage and does not depict the house fire. ThinBlueNews cropped the frame to its standard 1200-by-630 article format and uses it editorially with source attribution; no person or scene was generated or substituted.
Video note: This article is about the later recognition and is supported by the public ceremony image, the local follow-up and the original incident report. The story does not materially depend on body-camera, dashcam or rescue footage, so no incident video is represented as embedded evidence here. Readers can view the publisher's ceremony report and its linked police footage through the source pages above.
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