Bodycam video shows moment 100-year-old was evacuated from wildfires

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS) – A senior living facility in Altadena, California, was supposed to have been evacuated as the Eaton Fire burned nearby earlier this month.

As two Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputies searched the facility, they came across a 100-year-old woman who was struggling to find a way out.

The encounter and rescue were caught on body camera video, but it’s now raising questions about how she could have been left behind.

Deputies Nicholas Martinez and Quinn Alkonis found a 100-year-old woman at the MonteCedro Retirement Community in Altadena.

“Don’t lose me,” the older lady could be heard saying on the video.

The timestamp on the his body camera video is from the 10 a.m. on Jan. 8, the morning after the Eaton Fire first broke out.

The deputies from Carson were tasked with going to the senior living center, one of thousands of places put under an urgent evacuation order as flames spread quickly.

“So, we were having to do detours to try to get around these streets that had multiple houses on fire, vehicles on fire,” Alkonis described.

“It was windy. The amount of smoke that was coming through, I could see I would say maybe 5 to 10 feet in front of my vehicle,” Martinez added.

When they arrived, they saw a woman out front who told them someone may be inside, which prompted their search.

“We were just yelling out, ‘Hey, is anyone there?’ That’s when actually someone yelled out’ Yes, I’m here,” Martinez said.

Power was out in the building when the two found the older woman, who told the deputies she was deaf.

“She seemed very disheveled. Her nose was running, and she’s like breathing heavily and she seemed very scared, didn’t know what was going on,” Alkonis said.

They eventually got her out, all while calling for backup in helping clear the rest of the buildings.

“It was like a five-story facility with two additional wings that are unattached. This was definitely chaotic,” Martinez said.

In their sweep, they also found a dog and a cat, but no additional people.

“We swore an oath to protect life and property,” Martinez said.

“And I’m just glad we could be there for that lady,” Alkonis added.

The doors were closed and security at the MonteCedro Retirement Community said days later only maintenance workers were inside.

“We’re glad we were at the right place at the right time,” Martinez said.

The facility’s management hasn’t responded to a request for comment about how the woman was left behind.