Two Oregon City police officers are getting formal credit for a rescue that was about as close to the edge as it gets. On Tuesday, Officers Ben Griffin and James Kanalz were honored with the department's lifesaving award after performing CPR on a woman who had no pulse during a November house fire. The blaze, which started on a back porch, left the home fully engulfed and the resident unconscious on a neighbor's driveway.
The recognition stems from a call the Oregon City Police detailed in a post on X on Feb. 23, 2026. The department said officers were dispatched around 10:35 p.m. on Nov. 7, 2025, to a fire at 126 Cherry Lane, and that first responders were able to revive the resident before medics arrived, according to Oregon City Police.
How the rescue unfolded
When Griffin and Kanalz pulled up, the house was already fully involved and Clackamas County Fire crews were battling the flames. While firefighters worked the structure, the officers handled scene security and began searching the area. They found resident Karen DeMoss "unconscious and pulseless" on a neighbor's driveway, started CPR and helped restore a heartbeat before AMR transported her to the hospital. The department's post also named a man living at the residence, Wesley DeMoss, stating that neighbors had previously reported threats to burn the house and that a restraining order barred his contact with Karen; the post said he was on parole for strangling her, according to Oregon City Police.
Background at the home
According to neighbors' accounts and the department's announcement, tensions at the Cherry Lane address had been building before the fire. The post sketched out that fraught history while spotlighting the officers' role in keeping the emergency from becoming a fatality.
Why the award matters
Lifesaving awards are meant for exactly this kind of moment, when an officer's actions directly prevent a death. The Oregon Peace Officers' Association describes similar honors, and local agencies regularly lean on awards and press releases to publicly recognize first responders, per Oregon Peace Officers' Association and Clackamas County.
The department's post did not reference any arrests or charges tied to the fire, instead zeroing in on the immediate rescue effort and on thanking the officers and partner agencies involved.
