Cal Fire Battalion Chief Michael Martinez and his crew of firefighters were trying to protect areas near Ortega Highway from the Airport fire on Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 10, when the fast-moving blaze started roaring through.
They had to get out.
The firefighters moved out, and Martinez, in an emergency-vehicle pickup truck with a shell on the back, was moments away from doing the same when something caught his eye.
“He was the last one out, and all of a sudden, coming out of the fire, out of Ortega Highway, a lady was walking,” Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said. “He pulled up beside her, told her to get in the car, and he took her down Ortega Highway on the Lake Elsinore side.”
Martinez found a paramedic, who jumped in the back of the truck and started an IV on the woman while Martinez navigated the highway, Concialdi said. Martinez and the paramedic 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 wasn’t known. Martinez believes she was walking out of El Cariso Village, where multiple structures burned Tuesday night.
There wasn’t much conversation as the paramedic worked on the woman and Martinez kept his eyes on the road, while also coordinating units to get her to the hospital.
The moment was captured on video, which shows the woman walking dangerously close to flames amid strong 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 there and get her out,” Martinez said. “Life is my number one priority, and I was happy we were able to get her to safety.”
Further information about the woman, including her current condition in the hospital, was not known.
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