Cal Fire Battalion Chief Michael Martinez and his crew of firefighters tried to protect areas near Ortega Highway from Airport fire on Tuesday afternoon, September 10, when the fast-moving fire began to roar through.
They had to get out.
The firefighters rushed out, and Martinez, in an emergency vehicle pickup with a shell in the back, was moments away from doing the same when something caught his eye.
“He was the last one to come out, and all of a sudden he came out of the fire, out of Ortega Highway, a lady walked,,” said Captain Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority. “He stopped next to her, told her to get in the car and he took her down the Ortega Highway on the Elsinore side.”
Martinez found a paramedic who jumped into the back of the truck and started an IV on the woman while Martinez navigated the highway, Concialdi said. Martinez and paramedics transferred her to a waiting ambulance and paramedics took her to a hospital.
Why the woman was in the area and walking so close to the fire was not known. Martinez believes she walked out of the village of El Cariso, where several buildings burned Tuesday night.
There wasn’t much conversation as the paramedics worked on the woman and Martinez kept her eyes on the road, all the while coordinating the units to get her to the hospital.
The moment was captured on video, which shows the woman walking dangerously close to the flames in high winds. Martinez pulls up next to her in the truck so she can get into the front passenger seat.
“It happened so fast, I just saw her and I wanted to get in and get her out,” Martinez said. “Life is my first priority, and I was glad we were able to get her to safety.”
Additional information about the woman, including her current condition at the hospital, was not known.
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