Three San Diego-area firefighters bravely battled the deadly Los Angeles County fires fueled by fierce Santa Ana winds. They describe the chaotic conditions, the relentless flames, and the incredible ember cast that made firefighting incredibly challenging. Despite the destruction, there are heartwarming stories of rescues and resilience emerging from the ashes.
It was already spreading from house to house, over streets and just running in the wind. It was crazy,' Barona Fire Chief Ken Kremensky said about the Eaton Fire in Altadena.'It kind of looked like Armageddon those first couple of days,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua said about the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades. And at the Hurst Fire in Sylmar, Battalion Chief Nick Nava from San Miguel Fire & Rescue says the winds created “erratic fire behavior.
'The trio of San Diego-area firefighters shared how they put their lives on the line, helping to extinguish the deadly Los Angeles County fires. “The wind made the fire almost like a blowtorch,” Pascua said. “Just driving, trying to drive through streets where houses were on fire on both sides of the road, it was pretty much impassable because the flames were, instead of going in the air, they were laying right across the road.' 'The ember cast was incredible,” Kremensky said. “Embers were flying everywhere. I know I have got a few little burns on myself, my crew members too. We got burns in our Nomex from the embers falling on us.'The howling Santa Ana winds could be seen and heard in video that Kremensky shared while battling the Eaton Fire. He's part of a 21-person strike team that includes firefighters from San Diego, Chula Vista and San Miguel.“The winds get very shifty. You have all the terrain features and canyons that create eddies and varying directions of wind, so it definitely gets very challenging,' Nava said. Despite the death and destruction in Altadena, there are stories of hope emerging. On Kremensky’s video, you can hear him say, “We did save these houses.”'We got some residents that were trapped in their houses,' Kremensky said.'We brought them out, got them in their vehicles, got them driven out of the neighborhood.' And in the Palisades, Casey Colvin’s ecstatic reunion with his dog Oreo, who spent five nights in the rubble, went viral.“We had to get out of there because that fire was coming, and it was coming fast,' recalls Pascua.'That's the best part of this job, for sure,' Pascua said.'I know, unfortunately, that he lost his house, but I, I think the love that those dogs provide him are more important than anything that was in that house.
LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIRES SANTA ANA WINDS FIRE FIGHTERS HURST FIRE EATON FIRE PALISADES FIRE ARMAGEDDON EMBER CAST RESCUES RESILIENCE
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