EAST LOS ANGELES—An off-duty Pasadena Fire Department captain who was preparing to go to the National Football Conference Championship Game between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers rescued a woman and her dog from a burning home in East Los Angeles, authorities said Jan. 31.
“Capt. William Basulto wanted to fulfill his dream by taking his dad and son to the Rams Game yesterday,” Lisa Derderian, of the city of Pasadena, said in a statement.
“While dressed in their good luck Rams attire and loading up their vehicle for tailgating, his dad noticed heavy smoke coming from a home a few doors down on the 3800 block of Dozier Street in East Los Angeles,” Derderian said, noting that was at about 10:30 a.m. Sunday.
“William quickly ran to the house where he was told a woman in her 50s was trapped on an upper floor that was filling with smoke. He gave direction to neighbors to get a ladder, to call 911 and told them where to direct their garden hoses. He was able to rescue the woman and her dog as fire personnel were arriving on-scene.”
Basulto then gave arriving firefighters an update on the incident and helped them set up their hoses to extinguish the fire, Derderian said.
“Los Angeles County Fire personnel on-scene praised him for saving the victim’s life,” she said.
Basulto still made it to the game, though he was a little late to the tailgate party.
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