Crime & Safety

Deputies Put Out House Fire Before Firefighters Arrive

Mission Viejo police officers also pull a woman and three dogs to safety.

Update: New information from neighbors and firefighters suggests substantial inaccuracies in the below report, which is based on police accounts.

Here's some new fuel for the ongoing rivalry between police and firefighters.

Over the weekend, Mission Viejo police rescued a woman from a burning house and extinguished the blaze before firefighters even arrived, Orange County Sheriff's Lt. Chris Wilson said Monday.

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When Deputies Tobin Anderson and Adam Sandler pulled up to a Via Burgos house with smoke billowing out around 8:30 p.m. Friday, the neighbors said someone was still inside.

The deputies found a rear wall and sofa in flames and a woman attempting to put out the fire with a garden house. They grabbed the woman and took her to safety, then Anderson searched the smoke-filled rooms for other people, according to a statement.

Find out what's happening in Mission Viejowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Finding no one else, the deputies began putting out the fire, Anderson with the hose and Sandler with his fire extinguisher.

With the house still smoking and steaming, the deputies then grabbed three dogs from the backyard and reunited them with their owner.

Once firefighters arrived, they found the fire had already been doused.

Is the deputies' boss proud? "Most definitely," Wilson said.

"If someone needs help, we jump into action and take care of what needs to be done," he said. "They both exhibited that in this instance."

Wilson said the deputies will be considered for a special commendation next spring.


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