Bodycam video shows deputies rescue woman from deadly house fire in La Cañada Flintridge

Eric Resendiz Image
ByEric Resendiz KABC logo
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Video shows LA County deputies rescue woman from deadly house fire
New bodycam video captured the heroic actions of L.A. County sheriff's deputies who rescued one of the victims in a deadly house fire in La Cañada Flintridge.

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, Calif. (KABC) -- New bodycam video captured the heroic actions of Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who rescued one of the victims in a deadly house fire in La Cañada Flintridge.



Footage released by the L.A. County Sheriff's Department shows when a woman was swiftly pulled out from the blaze through a window on the second-story of a home.



The fire happened Tuesday just before 4 a.m. at a home on Rancho Cañada Road near Foothill Boulevard. The woman and a man survived the fire, but a 67-year-old man died.



Deputies from the Crescenta Valley Station arrived at the house before the fire department.



"We saw one of the family members. She was at the second-floor window, banging on the window asking for help," Deputy Cornejo recalled. "We were able to hoist each other up, get to the second floor, break the window and pull her out."



Deputy Lee was on her way to work when she spotted the fire. Lee said she was the one who called 911 and jumped into action.



"As soon as I walked through the back door I saw smoke," Lee said. "And that's when I saw one of the male occupants. Then I immediately took him, and I took him out."



Cornejo said they tried to search the rest of the home, but it was completely covered with black smoke and flames.



"It was too hard to see anything at that point," he said.



The L.A. County Fire Department then arrived. Fire crews pulled out a third man from the fiery home. Officials said paramedics did CPR on the man, but he died at the scene.



All three victims were related. The two surviving victims were taken to the hospital due to smoke inhalation.



The captain of the sheriff's station says he's very proud of his personnel.



"When you're in that situation, the adrenaline gets into you and training just automatically kicks in," Lee said. "Your instinct is to just save as many people as you can."



The coroner's office identified the man who died as 67-year-old Jacob Seong. The cause of the fire is under investigation.



Copyright © 2024 KABC Television, LLC. All rights reserved.