lifeguards leaving en masse, seven of them in disgust. we are basically supposed to do is watch them die, technically. reporter: just then we came across brian ritchie who walked off this guard tower to turn in the whistle and the shirt off his back. brian, did you just quit? i did just quit. how did it go? it was rough. i am glad that i can separate myself from this. ir i knew if the incident every came up, i would go. reporter: they made a pact choosing to save lives instead of their jobs. matt gutman, abc news, helendale beach, florida. i am so confused. lifeguards are supposed to save people s lives. he should be a hero. they should have promoted him. and given him a reward. because you left your little boundary area? i don t understand that. i m very confused about the whole thing. when rules get in the way of logic. and that would never happen on our beach, sunny. never happen on our beach. never happen. i ll rescue no matter what the boundary is. partic
they re way down over there. so i started running. reporter: he passed hoards of beachgoers to save a drowning man. i was worried about the guy. he was blue. reporter: instead of being rewarded he was fired. you see, the 21-year-old knowingly violate aid rule that prevents guards from this privately run lifeguard company from leaving their station to help a swimmer in distress. i did what i had to do. reporter: because someone s life was at stake. tommy s guard station is 100 yard that way down the beach. beyond this sign he is not allowed to go. but the person who was drowning was over there. a spokesperson for jeff ellis management said we have liability issues and can t go out of the protected area. suddenly the rule that got tommy fired launched a mutiny. so let me get this straight. all of you resigned or were fired because of tommy because of his decision. yeah. yeah. reporter: tommy s fellow l e