A wall of punishing heat, a choking pall of smoke, a house completely consumed by flames.
It’s the sort of terrifying situation firefighters must regularly confront. Now, dramatic video released by the Sacramento Fire Department allows us to experience it firsthand, from the perspective of a firefighter battling the blaze.
On Tuesday, the Sacramento Fire Department released video captured by the helmet camera of one of their firefighters as they responded to – and then battled – the blaze.
“Visibility can be very limited, it can be very hard to see inside,” Department spokesperson Chris Harvey told CBS News. “We don’t often get helmet-cam video that’s this clear.”
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The fire in question occurred June 20 at a home near 23rd Avenue and Franklin Boulevard in southern Sacramento. Sacramento Fire Department’s Engine 56 responded at around 2 P.M. local time to multiple reports of a house fire.
The video in question was recorded by the “nozzle” firefighter, meaning they were in charge of the fire hose in near-direct contact with the fire.
In the video, the firefighter uses a battering ram to break open a door in the residence, revealing a room and corridor completely consumed by flames.
The firefighters move through several flame-hit parts of the house, using the hose to try to contain the fire while other firefighters work to encircle the blaze. It took an hour to knock down the fire, according to firefighters.
The department says there were no injuries in the blaze, either to the residents or to any of their firefighters. The official cause of the fire remains under investigation.
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