CHP Officers Rescue Woman From Burning Encino Home
ENCINO (CBSLA.com) — Officers from the California Highway Patrol rescued a woman Friday from a burning home in Encino.
The blaze erupted at the home on Densmore Avenue and Magnolia Boulevard and caused a smoke plume to billow out.
Officers Kevin Mendel and Robert Jackson, as well as acting sergeant Edward Diffner, assisted the woman.
The officers were on a routine traffic stop nearby when they saw the smoke and raced to the home.
When they arrived, they saw the woman's son, who was frantic and concerned for his mother.
The officers tore down a fence and broke windows. They then located the woman, who they say was near the edge of the home.
"I thought the house might blow up. My partner and I and my sergeant, we could obviously feel the heat on our backs and stuff like that. It was pretty intense," Mendel said.
Diffner added: "It was pretty scary. It was fully engulfed. A lot of loud banging. Popping. And many little explosions here and there. It was a long 4-5 minutes. It seemed like an eternity."
The woman sustained burns across her body. Both the woman and her son were being treated for moderate burns and smoke inhalation.
The cause of the fire, described by firefighters as stubborn, was not known.
Authorities said the home had severe pack-rat conditions with piles of items.
"It was a combination of the storage and our inability to actually put water on the fire to make access. That's why the house got well-involved," Assistant Chief Andy Fox of the Los Angeles City Fire Department said.
Neighbors told KCAL9's Laurie Perez the fire department in recent weeks had assisted the homeowners with the removal of items.
Meanwhile, crews were expected to remain on the scene for a few hours as the fire remained trapped between a flat roof and a pitched roof.