Man rescues wife from burning Pomona condo

POMONA, Calif. (KABC) -- A husband rescued his wife from their burning home in Pomona. The man jumped into action before firefighters even got to the scene.

"I went in there, and I really didn't know where to start looking," described Ron Shaw.

Shaw was just a couple blocks away when he got a terrifying call from his wife saying their two-story condo was on fire - and she was still inside. He got home before firefighters arrived.

"I saw the back door was open, ran through it and she was in the backyard. You couldn't see anything in the back yard. It was full of smoke," Shaw said.

Shaw managed to get his wife outside unharmed as the fire, which started in the garage and spread to the attic, raged on. The blaze burned so hot, that a Pomona police officer was overcome with smoke inhalation.

"It was quite a struggle to get access to the roof and get on there," said Battalion Chief Carl Flores with the L.A. County Fire Department.

Shaw said he's never seen anything like this fire in his life.

"There were just flames rolling out," he said.

Thirty minutes later, the fire was out. A firefighter, that Pomona police officer and a neighbor were sent to the hospital. They're all expected to be OK. Officials said six people were displaced from the fire.

Meantime the Shaws are grateful their three boys weren't home when the fire broke out.

"I'm thinking to myself, 'I just lost everything,' but I'm really thankful that I got my wife out and I had my kid with me. Everything worked out really well in the sense that nobody got hurt," Shaw said.