Off-Duty Calif. Battalion Chief Credited With Rescue

LONG BEACH -- An off-duty battalion chief who was doing yardwork rescued an elderly neighbor he found slumped in a chair inside her burning home.

The fire in the 800 block of Rancho Drive was reported at about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.

The battalion chief, Chris Rowe, called the rescue a neighborhood effort that began when a security officer contacted him by phone after seeing smoke.

Then, another neighbor joined Rowe and used a garden hose to spray water through a sliding-glass rear door toward flames coming from the home's kitchen.

"We heard a low moan inside the back of the structure," Rowe said.

Wearing flip flops, jeans and a sweatshirt, Rowe entered the house and crawled through floor-to-ceiling smoke toward the sound and rescued the woman.

The woman, who was in her 70 s, was unable to respond to questions.

After ensuring she could breathe, Rowe went back inside the home and checked for more occupants, finding none.

Knowing fellow firefighters would be arriving soon made it easier to decide to re-enter the home, he said.

On-duty firefighters dispatched to a call have time to prepare themselves for an emergency situation, Rowe said.

"This was instantaneous and relied on training," he added. "All the drilling and instruction that we do on a daily basis just kicked in."

The victim, whose identity was not released, was treated for smoke inhalation at a hospital.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.