Watch Calif. Deputies, Forest Service Officer Escape Raging Wildfire

Three California deputies and a U.S. Forest Service officer escaped a scary close call last month when they were briefly trapped by the raging Borel Fire.

The incident happened shortly after 4:30 p.m. July 26 as the Kern County sheriff's deputies and the Forest Service officer were evacuating people as wildfire flames tore through Havilah, the sheriff's office stated in a social media post that included body camera footage of their harrowing experience. As they were moving people out, they found that the flames had spread and blocked the road.

Quickly, the four officers tried to find alternate ways out, but they found that the fire had cut them off. They then called fire crews for aid as they drove to a clearing to get out of the way of the fast-spreading fire. The Forest Service officer had two Nomex flame resistant jackets, and he gave them to the deputies.

When aerial fire support couldn't reach the four because of heavy smoke, another call went out to the sheriff's office's Air Support Unit, which prepped a rescue flight.

"How are we going to get out of here, man?" one deputy is heard saying in the video footage.

Eventually, the Kern County Fire Department was able to reach a nearby road, but firefighters could reach the trapped deputies and officer, even though they could see them. The four officers drove through the fiery roadblocks to meet the nearby fire crews and make it to out of the flames after nearly 40 minutes.

"We're going home. Come on. We're going to get out of here. We gotta get out of here," one of the deputies is heard saying.

On Friday, July 26, 2024, three Kern County Sheriff’s Office Deputies assigned to the Kern River Valley Substation and an Officer for U.S. Forest Service conducted evacuations for the Borel Fire in Havilah, CA. During the evacuations, at approximately 4:35 p.m., the deputies and the officer discovered that the fire had spread to an area blocking the roadway. The deputies and officer utilized alternate routes, but all escape routes had been blocked by fire. Assistance was requested from fire crews while they drove to a clearing to avoid the rapidly spreading flames. Aerial Fire support could not safely reach the deputies and officer due to excessive smoke cover. An additional request was made for assistance from Kern County Sheriff’s Office Air Support Unit. KCSO Air Support Units responded to the hangar in preparation for a rescue flight. The U.S. Forest Service Officer had two Nomex flame resistant jackets. During the incident, he gave them both to deputies. KCFD was able to reach a nearby road and was visible by the stranded deputies and officer but was not able to reach the clearing where they were located. The deputies and officer drive to meet the fire crews nearby and safely escaped the fiery roadblocks after nearly 40 minutes and multiple close calls.