We post rarely heard police radio communications
(January 27, 2003) -- While most of LB slept on January 17, 2003, two LBPD officers put themselves in peril to save people they'd never met.
LBReport.com posts below audio files that let you hear -- yes, hear -- what happened. These are not "911" calls from the outside. They are rarely heard police radio communications between police officers in the field and a dispatcher downtown.
The tape was released to LBReport.com at our request. It demonstrates in ways that words cannot what these officers encountered and experienced.
LBPD Officer Alfonso Esqueda and Officer Vincent Otto have been partners for some time. They've been with LBPD for over two years.
Officers Esqueda and Otto are patrol officers. They work the overnight "graveyard" patrol shift in LB's North Division.
At roughly 1:45 a.m. -- while on routine patrol -- Officers Esqueda and Otto spotted what looked like strobe lights in the distance. They drove up and found a garage in a residential neighborhood fully engulfed in flames.
On the same property with flaming garage was a front house...and two back houses.
LBFD hadn't arrived yet...and worst of all, the people inside still appeared to be asleep. Officer Esqueda reported the fire (which LBPD relayed to LBFD), but smoke and flames were already spreading that could overcome -- and doom -- sleeping family members.
Officers Esqueda and Otto had to make a split second decision. It involved real risk for them. Police don't receive training or equipment to handle fires. Simply put, if you'd think twice about running into a smoke filled, choking, roasting building with no protective gear or breathing equipment, that's the decision Officers Esqueda and Otto had to make.
Without regard for their own safety, the two officers ran in. This was clearly heroic.
Officer Otto cleared the front house while his partner, Officer Esqueda, headed for the two back houses and the garage.
Officer Otto found members of a large family, including an elderly woman. He got them out of the house as smoke and flames approached.
Meanwhile, Officer Esqueda worked to clear the back houses but found himself trapped by smoke and flames. It's the kind of potentially life-threatening fire situation that can arise very quickly. You will hear what happened for yourself. If it doesn't raise your heartrate, you probably lack a blood pressure.
With flames and smoke all around him, Officer Esqueda managed to clear the back residences. Thanks to quick thinking by the LBPD dispatcher and NLB Sergeant (you'll hear them), back up units arrived, including Officer Chris Gentry.
Officer Gentry helped Officer Esqueda get out alive. In the process, the officers had to dodge a menacing dog (you'll hear that too).
We've edited the tape to reduce silent periods between the officers' transmissions. We deleted the exact address, but it was in NLB a couple of blocks from Atlantic Ave. and Market St...and could have been anywhere.
LBReport.com is honored to let LB residents hear what these police officers did...while most of LB was asleep.
We've posted 93 seconds of audio below.
