'They Need To Get Out Quick': Pilots Fly Through Woolsey Fire To Rescue 3 People, 2 Dogs
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — New video released this week shows a Los Angeles Fire Department helicopter flying through the thick smoke of the Woolsey Fire to rescue three people and two dogs from Castro Peak in the hills above Malibu.
After making a water drop and low on fuel, Air Operations pilots David Nordquist and Joel Smith got a call to rescue people trapped on the peak, in the middle of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Woolsey Fire burn area.
"Those guys are in a bad area, they need to get out quick," one of the pilots is heard saying.
The Woolsey Fire had exploded the day of the rescue, a day after breaking out in Ventura County, and quickly burned its way toward Malibu and the Pacific Ocean.
The helicopter flew through thick, dark smoke and landed in a dirt area not far from vehicles and the peak's radio and broadcast towers.
One of the pilots got out and led two men and a woman with their two dogs to the helicopter. One of the dogs had trouble getting on the helicopter, and its owner had to pull the dog by its collar to get it on board.
"There's one dog here, English mastiff, he's a little apprehensive, but we're, uh, getting him on board," the pilot says.
