A quick-thinking fire chief used a last resort to save two homes from the scorching California wildfires: a carton of milk and ‘a few beers.’
Brian Fennessy, 65, heroically saved his brother and neighbor’s Altadena homes from the blazing Eaton Fire – which has torched over 14,000 acres with the only liquid he could find.
The 65-year-old Orange County Fire Authority Chief, who grew up in the now unrecognizable streets of Altadena, recalled reassuring his brother – who still lives in the neighborhood – that he’d be ‘just fine’ hours before his heroic rescue.
‘I told them, “You’re fine.” That they have nothing to worry about,’ Fennessy recalled telling his brother as the fire had just sparked in Eaton Canyon – around 3 miles from his brother’s home.
Only a few hours later the Fennessy family’s worst nightmares would be realized, as the ravaging fire had quickly burned its way into their quaint suburban neighborhood.
Fennessy recalled being unable to reach his brother once he knew of the disastrous fire’s fast moving spread, fearing only ‘the worst’ had happened.
‘His phone stopped working, and so I thought I need to get up there,’ Fennessy told ABC7.
‘I was fearing the worst,’ he added.
As a worried-sick Fennessy hurried to the rescue, he got a relieving call from his brother who let him know that he and his family had safely evacuated.
Though, the seasoned fire chief had already made his way to the torched neighborhood and figured he could check on his brother’s home.
‘I was already up there and I thought, well I could at least go check on his house,’ Fennessy told the outlet.
As the firefighter of nearly 50 years reached the fire-riddled area, he could only describe the wreckage as ‘a total nightmare.’
Fennessy recorded the unbelievable damage on his cellphone. The shocking footage shows Fennessy offering his condolences to a childhood friend as they, together, viewed the remains of the incinerated homes.
Now, the streets that once held many fond memories for the Fennessy family were reduced to ashes.
‘I have not seen anything like this where you drive for miles and miles, and there’s massive destruction,’ Fennessy said.
Yet, as he arrived to his brother’s home, the fire chief was shocked to find the house still standing as the surrounding homes were fully engulfed in flames.
‘We tell everybody call 911 and we’ll be there. This was a situation [where] you call 911, it’s unlikely we were gonna be there,’ Fennessy said.
As he got to work clearing fuels that appeared ‘dangerously close’ to the buildings, Fennessy noticed the gas meter on the neighbor’s house was already melting.
After finding a hose, but no water, the fireman forced entry into the home in search of something to cool down the melting meter.
‘I thought I’ll check the refrigerator and all that was in there was some milk and a couple beers,’ Fennessy said.
‘I went back out and kind of ran back there and cooled it off and pulled it back a little bit. It wasn’t completely out, so I wasn’t sure if it was going to rekindle, but it was all I could do,’ he added.
A carton of milk and a couple of beers was all it took to save the only two homes still standing on the ruinous streets of the Altadena suburb.
‘I think this is our new reality,’ he said. ‘This house-to-house, these urban conflagrations, we’re going start seeing them more and more.’
Fennessy told ABC7 that he would’ve done the same thing had it not been family.
He said he did what he could as a trained firefighter and though he’s getting a lot of credit, a lot of his heroism surmounted to good timing and available resources.
Six fires have erupted across the greater Los Angeles area since last Tuesday, killing at least 27 people and burning more than 12,000 homes and other structures.
Firefighters are still battling the Palisades Fire, which is the most destructive blaze in LA history, as well as the Eaton and Hurst fires. The three other blazes are now fully contained.
Red Flag warnings advising of extreme wildfire danger expired across the Los Angeles area late on Wednesday, but forecasters warned that dry and windy conditions will persist on Thursday, and that the threat of blazes remained.
The National Weather Service added that the respite for fire-ravaged Los Angeles will be short, with high chances for renewed Red Flag warnings – when ideal fire conditions of high winds and low humidity dominate – starting again on Sunday.
Some 6.5 million people remained under a critical fire threat, after the fires consumed an area nearly the size of Washington DC, resulting in at least 25 deaths so far, authorities said.
Firefighters on Wednesday confronted persistently strong and dry winds fueling two giant wildfires that have terrified Los Angeles for eight days, testing the resolve of a city upended by the worst disaster in its history.
Officials urged residents to remain vigilant and be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice with peak wind gusts forecast to last through Thursday afternoon.