Two Los Angeles Police Department officers faced a heartbreaking decision when the encountered a burning SUV with a family of five trapped inside on the side of a Southern California freeway.
Officers Nick Chacon and Cody McCarthy pulled over to help when they saw the fiery crash happen at the base of an embankment on the 118 Freeway in Porter Ranch north of Los Angeles. They were on the way home after a grueling 14-hour shift working the Summit of the Americas conference when they just happened to be in the right place at the right time.
“I happened to look to my right, my passenger side, and noticed a car passing us and flipping over itself,” said McCarthy
They were rushing toward a life-or-death situation that would call for an extremely difficult choice. A mother, father and three young girls — ages 9, 4 and 4 months — were inside the burning Lexus SUV.
“We had to prioritize who was most important, who was most at risk,” said Chacon “And, we knew that the kids had to come out first.
“Fifteen seconds earlier, 15 seconds later, we might not have been there.”
A man emerged from the SUV and told officers — who also are fathers — his wife and children were trapped in the inferno. His oldest child also escaped on her own.
Both passenger-side doors of the crumpled SUV were smashed shut by the rollover. They ran to the driver’s side and found the front door also would not open.
They had one way in through the rear driver’s side.
“Every few seconds, there seemed to be more and more heat, more and more smoke,” said McCarthy.
“I could feel my shoes melting,” said Chacon. “I could feel them sticking on the pavement. When you breathe, I could feel the inside just burning.”
McCarthy recalled thinking about the possibility of an explosion as he unlatched the child car seats. They freed the two children, then turned their focus on rescuing their mother.
Their heroic efforts in a tragic situation weren’t enough. The 31-year-old woman died at the scene.
“There’s guilt and remorse we feel that we didn’t get the last victim out,” said McCarthy “It’s hard to swallow sometimes.”
The officers said they often think of the family and how the children are coping.
“The knowledge of how these kids are doing is huge to us. I couldn’t fathom going through that at their age and being ok,” said McCarthy.
The CHP said the father who was driving the car in the single-vehicle crash was arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter. The I-Team spoke with other family members, who declined to speak on camera, but said the children are doing ok and being cared for by relatives.
“We did our best. She’s in my prayers,” said Chacon. “I really, really want them to know that.”
