A Dominion City and Grunthal resident are the latest small town heroes.

Kim French and Kevin Hildebrand received Commanding Officer Certificates for saving a man from a burning, flipped semi-truck on Highway 75 on July 8, 2014.

"I mean it was a nice gesture," explains French when giving his reaction to the honour. "I really wasn't looking at any certificates or anything. He told me at the time 'it's not often that ordinary citizens do stuff like that, we as RCMP get paid to do it, but ordinary citizens don't often do that kind of thing and we are very happy that you did.'"

French is a retired truck driver and says although the vehicle was on fire it never exploded.

"We thought at one point that it might have gas in it, but once I was in the truck and saw his paperwork laying on the floor I knew what was in the truck because I hauled the same kind of stuff; it was fertilizer. The flames were all around the diesel fuel tanks so we were a little concerned about that but we decided we would go in and get him out. We got him away and then the truck literally went up in flames."

Hildebrand says he the credit for the rescue goes to French for cutting the seatbelt in the burning cab.

"He is one of my inspirations in life because he displayed what unconditional love looks like - risking his own life to save somebody else's, [it's] something I won't ever forget. God was our protection and there I realized how important one second really is in life. If Kim would have showed up 30 to 45 seconds later, that might have been too late. The driver is alive, he didn't have to burn, nobody got hurt in that unforgettable moment and I'm really thankful for that."

French says the act may have been crazy, however if he had to do it again he would act the same way.

He adds he can't remember how the rescue unfolded since he acted on pure adrenaline.