California Firefighter Helps Save Home of Girlfriend's Parents after Ending 60-Hour Shift

A California firefighter had just completed a 60-hour shift but still had enough power left in the tank to help save his girlfriend’s parents’ home from burning down.

ABC7 News Bay Area report has told the story of a firefighter, Grant Newnom’s after he drove one and a half minutes after a shift to help save his girlfriend’s parents’ home from burning during the weekend.

Newnom is a firefighter for the San Jose Fire Department and had worked for three straight days, completing a 60-hour shift on Sunday. He was getting set to head home when his girlfriend, Elise Jones, called his phone.

She told him the Glass Fire ravaging parts of California was making its way to her family home. Understandably, Newnom was exhausted after a long stretch of keeping out fires, but he got into his car and drove for 90 minutes to Jones’ parents’ home in Santa Rosa.

On getting there, the firefighter saw people’s homes were already burning and recalled seeing large mushroom clouds. However, his girlfriend’s parents’ house was still intact, so he got busy moving debris and any other items away from the property.

He also used a chainsaw to cut down trees that were in the inferno’s path. However, despite his bravery, Newnom knew he could not stick around for long and battle the fire on his own.

He did not have to do it all alone, though. Just as he was about to leave, firefighters attached to the Santa Rosa Fire Department arrived at the scene and helped quench the flames.

Newnom reserved special praise for the Santa Rosa Fire Department’s firefighters, saying they were the real heroes.

A fire captain told Newnom that if that was his girlfriend’s parents’ home, then they would stand there and fight. They agreed to battle the raging flames and put down some hose lines.

It was a tough battle, but the firemen prevailed. As for Jones’ family home, some part of the property was damaged by the flames, but it survived the fire and remained standing.

Newnom reserved special praise for the Santa Rosa Fire Department’s firefighters, saying they were the real heroes and fought as though they were trying to save their own homes. They were off to the next fire scene after a simple handshake.

However, Newnom expressed concerns about how the California Wildfires continually worsen every year, wondering what next year would hold if this year was like this.

The deadly West Coast wildfires continue to ravage people’s lives and properties, leaving trails of deaths, devastation, and eerie orange skies in the US states of California, Washington, and Oregon.

The wildfires have left millions of acres burned to ashes in California alone, with 14,000 firefighters doing their best to keep the flames at bay in 28 major cities.