A quick-thinking fire chief used a last resort to save two homes from the scorching California wildfires: a carton of milk and “a few beers.”
Brian Fennessy, 65, heroically saved his brother and neighbor’s homes in Altadena from the Eaton Fire, which has burned more than 14,000 acres with the only liquid it could find.
The 65-year-old Orange County Fire Authority chief, who grew up on the now unrecognizable streets of Altadena, recalled assuring his brother, who still lives in the neighborhood, that he would be “fine” hours before his heroic rescue.
“I told them, ‘You’re fine.'” “You have nothing to worry about,” Fennessy recalled telling her brother when the fire had just broken out in Eaton Canyon, about 3 miles from her brother’s home.
Just hours later, the Fennessy family’s worst nightmares would come true, as the devastating fire had quickly made its way into their picturesque suburban neighborhood.
Fennessy recalled being unable to locate her brother once she learned of the rapid spread of the disastrous fire, fearing that only “the worst” had happened.
“His phone stopped working, so I thought I had to go there,” Fennessy said. ABC7.
Brian Fennessy, 65, turned to everything he could find – a carton of milk and “a few beers” – to save two homes from the scorching California wildfires.

The Orange County Fire Authority Chief heroically saved his brother and neighbor’s Altadena homes from the Eaton Fire, which has burned more than 14,000 acres, with just a carton of milk and “a few beers.”

A carton of milk and a couple of beers was enough to save the only two homes still standing in the ruined streets of the Altadena neighborhood.
“I feared the worst,” he added.
As a worried and sick Fennessy rushed to the rescue, he received a call of relief from his brother, who informed him that he and his family had been safely evacuated.
However, the experienced fire chief had already headed to the burned-out neighborhood and thought he might check on his brother’s house.
“I was already there and I thought, well, at least I could go see his house,” Fennessy told the outlet.
When the nearly 50-year-old firefighter arrived at the fire-ravaged area, he could only describe the remains as “a total nightmare.”
Fennessy recorded the incredible damage on her cell phone. The shocking footage shows Fennessy offering his condolences to a childhood friend as they together viewed the remains of the burned homes.
Now, the streets that once held fond memories for the Fennessy family were reduced to ashes.
“I haven’t seen anything like this where you drive for miles and miles and there’s massive destruction,” Fennessy said.
However, when he arrived at his brother’s house, the fire chief was shocked to find the house still standing while the surrounding houses were completely engulfed in flames.
‘We tell everyone to call 911 and we will be there. “This was a situation where you call 911 and it’s unlikely we were there,” Fennessy said.
As he got to work cleaning up combustibles that seemed “dangerously close” to buildings, Fennessy noticed that the gas meter at the neighbor’s house was already melting.

A vehicle destroyed by the Eaton Fire sits in a neighborhood on January 16 in Altadena, California.

The foundation of a chimney remains after his residence was destroyed in the Eaton Fire on January 16 in Altadena, California.

Damage from the Eaton Fire is seen on January 16 in Altadena, California
After finding a hose, but no water, the firefighter forced his way into the house in search of something to cool the fusion counter.
“I thought I’d check the refrigerator and all that was in there was some milk and a couple beers,” Fennessy said.
‘I went back out and ran over there, cooled it down and pulled it back a little bit. “It wasn’t completely off, so I wasn’t sure if it was going to come back on, but it was all I could do,” he added.
A carton of milk and a couple of beers was all it took to save the only two houses that still remain on the ruined streets of the Altadena suburb.
“I think this is our new reality,” he said. “This house-to-house, these urban conflagrations, we’re going to start seeing them more and more.”
Fennessy told ABC7 she would have done the same thing if it weren’t for her family.
He said he did what he could as a trained firefighter, and while he’s getting a lot of credit, much of his heroism was outweighed by good timing and available resources.
Since last Tuesday, six fires have broken out in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, killing at least 27 people and burning more than 12,000 homes and other structures.
Firefighters are still battling the Palisades Fire, which is the most destructive fire in Los Angeles history, as well as the Eaton and Hurst fires. The other three fires are now completely under control.

A satellite image shows an overview of the area burned by the Eaton Fire, in Altadena, California.

A worker walks past the remains of a home destroyed by the Eaton Fire on January 16 in Altadena, California.

The remains of a home destroyed by the Eaton Fire are seen in Altadena, California
Red Flag warnings warning of extreme wildfire danger expired in the Los Angeles area late Wednesday, but forecasters warned that dry and windy conditions will persist Thursday, and the threat of wildfires remains.
The National Weather Service added that the respite for fire-ravaged Los Angeles will be brief, with a high chance of renewed Red Flag warnings – when ideal fire conditions of high winds and low humidity dominate – beginning again on Sunday. .
Some 6.5 million people remained under critical fire threat after fires consumed an area nearly the size of Washington, D.C., causing at least 25 deaths so far, officials said.
Firefighters on Wednesday braved persistently strong, dry winds that fueled two massive wildfires that have terrorized Los Angeles for eight days, testing the resolve of a city shaken by the worst disaster in its history.
Authorities urged residents to remain alert and be prepared to evacuate at a moment’s notice, as peak wind gusts are forecast to last until Thursday afternoon.