The 2018 Camp Fire became the costliest wildfire in California history with a total of 85 civilian deaths and an estimated $16.5 billion in damage. The public safety response to the rapidly unfolding disaster was—in totality— valiant and brave and seemingly superhuman even if at times wholly improvised.
Connors quickly rushed inside to find the 65-year-old woman in her wheelchair on the second floor. After almost 90 seconds inside the smoke-filled home, he located the woman and brought her to safety outside.
Together, they acted quickly to pull a 17-year-old through the passenger’s side window and move him to safety moments before the entire structure became engulfed.
“I saw the car was pretty much fully engulfed, then pretty quickly I learned that somebody was still inside,” says Stephens. ““Clearly there was still a window of opportunity to get that person out.”
Officer Bill Beaudette was patrolling the city’s East Side when he noticed a cloud of smoke in the area and located a duplex on fire. After calling the fire department, he took action.
Once located, police say the woman repeatedly pled for the officers to kill her. Officers were able to restrain her and carry her to safety, outside the home.
"Deputy Puzynski climbed the outside balconies & mom handed baby down to him," Orange County SO wrote on Twitter.
"With no one standing outside and no one calling 911 yet, I knew I had to act quick because people were still in the house," Officer John "Jack" Kane said.
Every year, vehicle fires—almost always caused by collisions and crashes—kill hundreds of motorists and their passengers. In almost every instance of a vehicle fire, the first arriving public safety personnel are not firefighters—they're police officers.
“When I get out of the car, I can hear him yelling for me, hey I’m on fire, I need help,” said Deputy Garrett Parrish. “So I get over there, he’s lodged in the car pretty good. His seat belt was wrapped around his neck and his shoulder.”
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