Original subtitles

Los Angeles, California...

with 13 million people...

and over 1,000 emergencies a day,

it's often referred to

as the local news capital of the world.

Video journalists have captured an unbelievable catalogue of events.

To see what our members had to endure is very difficult.

This is almost like a movie. It's hard to believe this was real.

With our first-on-scene heroes' perspectives,

this is an insight into their most thrilling moments.

In this episode,

paramedics get a nasty surprise.

I can tell you, I would've been gone.

A fast pursuit comes to a bizarre halt.

A pregnant mother clings to hope on the side of a busy highway.

This footage is phenomenal.

A monstrous blaze threatens lives.

We're gonna do whatever we can.

It's almost as if time stops.

And raging floodwaters

lead to a heart stopping battle for survival.

It's 3:00 a.m. in downtown Los Angeles

when the harrowing pursuit of an armed suspect

screeches to a halt.

...with both hands outside the window.

We saw a subject

that had fled from police and stopped in his vehicle.

Officers are trying to make contact with him,

giving him orders.

He's not listening.

Sat in his vehicle, did not listen to any commands.

With tensions already high,

the suspect makes a bold and unexpected move

that could have gone up in smoke.

I'm not police. Go back there.

As officers prepare for the worst,

the man, surrounded by the police,

brazenly decides to light up

what could be his final joint, leaving the cops bewildered.

All he seems to wanna do is roll his joint and get high.

I think this would be one of your moments

where only in LA do you see a suspect

roll in a fat blunt and start to smoke it.

The suspect appears to be getting increasingly emotional.

The officers watch on with their guard up.

Crazy enough, you actually see a lot of these suspects,

especially as they're getting handcuffed and taken away,

they are visibly upset.

They don't give thought to their actions

until the consequences of their actions

are right in their face.

We've seen suspects do a lot of crazy things

right before they feel like it's their final moment.

It's really stressful. And if he has a blunt on him,

then why not smoke a doobie before...?

You know, you're not going to be able to smoke for a bit.

If he's gonna have to go to jail, he's gonna go to jail

high as a kite and feeling real, real good.

The suspect is finally apprehended and taken into custody.

The drama may be over for now,

but the consequences of their actions

are sure to leave a lasting buzz.

All he wanted to do before he goes to jail

was have that last joint.

So when he goes out, he's going on a high.

Every day, first responders

put their lives on the line to serve and protect.

But there comes a point where they must weigh the risks

against their own safety.

When is it necessary for them to hold back

and prioritise self-preservation over the call of duty?

So the police got more than they bargained for on this one.

A man was struck by a vehicle on his bicycle,

and paramedics transported him to the hospital.

The accident happened right outside the hospital,

so left behind at the scene was a black duffel bag.

Inside that duffel bag,

police and first responders find...

a massive python.

What? Wait, they found what?

Where did this person get the python and why does he have a python?

And aren't pythons pretty lethal?

And how did the police officers even approach this?

The police and first responders

must've got the shock of their life when they unzipped that bag.

Seeing a massive python in the bag, how often does that happen?

Nurses came out to check in on such a bizarre situation.

Oh, poor baby.

This isn't just a pet snake. This is a python.

I feel so bad that he's in here with no food.

This becomes newsworthy

because not so many people are running around

day to day in Los Angeles with a python in their briefcase.

If I were there and saw that snake,

I wouldn't have been filming it up close.

I can tell you now, I would have been gone.

Animal control arrived.

They took the snake into a bag,

popped it in their truck and took it away.

This is a strange thing to see.

A python coming out of a briefcase is definitely...interesting.

Coming up...

You never know where a call is gonna go.

I'd like to call the policeman on you.

Then the bizarre happened.

No! I need fucking help.

But first...

This footage is phenomenal.

And this is life coming into the world

on the side of our freeway.

The Los Angeles Fire and Paramedics Department

responds to over 1,000 medical calls every day.

With their ambulance service stretched to the brink,

some people attempt to reach the hospital on their own.

It's the early hours of the morning,

and officers respond to a woman

who has given birth on the side of a busy freeway.

With the newborn's life hanging in the balance,

time is of the essence.

Just...The other end. I'm gonna scoot you down, okay?

She's trying to get to the hospital. She's having a baby,

and the baby doesn't wait.

When a baby wants to come, a baby wants to come,

and you don't have much control over it.

Many of these scenes,

especially fire and police, they aren't happy endings.

Running emergency on live childbirths

is not something you see every day, but it's not that uncommon either.

This footage is phenomenal

as you see the reality of a baby being born.

This is life coming into the world on the side of our freeway.

In the midst of a bustling freeway,

the fire department springs into action,

their training and expertise

allowing them to respond with lightning speed.

And out it comes right on the side of the freeway

with 75, 80 mile an hour traffic.

That's pretty risky.

Not all of our emergencies end this way,

but that's a beautiful thing.

As soon as you hear that baby cry,

you have a sigh of relief.

To actually have to give birth on one of Los Angeles's freeways

must have been frightening for the mother and for the dad.

From the looks of things, the baby was doing absolutely fine.

It's wonderful.

Sometimes we'll stay in contact with that child growing up.

Sometimes the parents will come by that fire station on the birthday.

It tends to put a smile on people's faces

because this is a happy ending.

Mum and baby are okay.

This little girl is starting a life.

I mean, it's a great story.

The newborn takes its first breath on the side of the freeway.

It's a moment of triumph for all involved.

From one highway to the next.

The clock strikes midnight as the scene unfolds in Pasadena,

northeast of downtown Los Angeles.

But pursuing 100 miles an hour is extremely dangerous.

With speeds reaching a dizzying 100 miles per hour,

the question on everyone's mind is,

"What could possibly drive someone to run so recklessly?"

This time, due to the excessive speed,

the police department lost a suspect.

The cameraman was there to save the day.

This is a woman who clearly is having

some sort of mental breakdown.

And...that's sad.

I see absolutely no validity in point to have shot this.

The cameraman did a fantastic job

finding and notifying the police department.

The cameraman who shot this

actually found her and questioned her on camera.

Why was she running from law enforcement?

So just tell me why you ran.

...that camera in my face?

The woman actually went on to a rant,

a big rant about something,

and it just didn't make sense at all.

-Tell me why you ran. -I'd like to call the police on you.

You're an illegal slave trader. I am with the police everywhere.

-You're not with the police. -I'm with the police.

I'm trained to arrest you and the policeman.

She was saying that she had some kind of police powers.

You are literally putting me in a slave trade nightmare.

You're ruining my life. And you inject me with heroine needles.

No. 5150 is legal.

Oh, yes! He's back.

I think that the stringer was out of place, to be honest.

I don't really understand what he was trying to do.

I don't think the cameraman did anything wrong.

It's not really ethical, in my opinion.

I think he was part of the problem.

Then the bizarre happened.

No! Stop! You know what they want!

No, I need help. No! No, I need f...help.

I'm in need of help!

You're gonna prove... Why you know my name?

She ripped off her clothes in the middle of the street

and got butt naked.

This individual possibly disrobed

because she thought the male officers didn't wanna engage

and they would possibly back off and not arrest her.

When someone decides to strip down and take their clothes off,

you're never gonna expect that.

The cameraman was very close, uh...too close for his own safety.

When you come in contact with someone who's not thinking clearly

to the point where they're gonna strip down,

you have to be very cautious

'cause you never know what she's gonna do next.

The stringer was too focused on this individual

who was having a mental breakdown rather than the actual story.

She's clearly got mental health issues.

So you have to have a little bit of heart.

The officer stayed professional and respectful,

and they did their job the way that they should have.

In the end, the woman actually gave up.

Law enforcement put her in handcuffs

and took her into custody without further incident.

Coming up...

The last thing we want is to lose someone in the line of duty.

But first...

He can't make it up.

Unfortunately, he's not Santa Claus with magic powers.

Dust storms strike with little warning,

making driving conditions hazardous.

Even though they usually last only a few minutes,

the actions a motorist takes during the storm

may be the most important of his or her life.

Weather, it can cause lots of destruction.

As soon as this storm rolled in,

I knew something bad was gonna happen.

It's 7:30 p.m.,

and the weather is taking a turn for the worst

in the desert between Phoenix, Arizona, and Los Angeles.

Video journalist Brandy is on the road,

ready to capture the action.

I looked out into the distance, and I could see

this massive dust storm coming right at me.

It looked like it was a really severe thunderstorm in the area.

That can obviously cause flash floods.

It could also cause lightning strikes.

That could lead to fires.

The flooding can cause mudslides.

Homes get wiped out,

and you'll get people washed away down river streams.

The Interstate 10,

the fourth longest highway in the United States,

is closed down for an indefinite period of time,

while the wild weather takes over.

Cars are left stranded with nowhere to go.

It trapped a lot of people on the freeway for a very long time.

It caused a lot of damage in a short amount of time.

No injuries were reported.

But the eastbound side,

which had a large chunk missing from flood damage,

remained closed completely for days on end.

Pomona lies east of Los Angeles.

It's a sprawling valley of citrus trees

and usually quiet suburban neighbourhoods.

It's 9:00 p.m.,

and residents are jolted from their peaceful slumber

by the blaring of sirens.

First responders rush to the aid of a man

who has been a little too inspired by Santa Claus.

What we have here

is a guy that apparently was locked out of his residence

and decided to actually go down the chimney.

Unfortunately, he's not Santa Claus with magic powers,

and he was stuck.

And he can't make it up.

That is not my chosen path to get into my home

if I'm locked out.

People just don't seem to understand

that you're not going to get down a chimney.

This person did not look very successful.

The man's reckless decision to slide down the chimney

left him trapped and fighting for his life.

We've seen individuals get trapped between walls

and never make it out alive.

And we end up doing a body recovery.

That has to be a very scary situation,

being in a confined space like that.

They're probably thinking, "Will I ever get out of here?"

Seconds must feel like hours.

They might not even be heard from or seen for several days.

And that could obviously lead to severe injury or even death.

In a unique rescue like this, there's a lot of considerations.

Fortunately for him, highly-trained firefighters came to rescue him.

This particular rescue

enabled them to actually put a harness

from the top of the chimney down to the patient

and actually pull them out.

I think anybody that gets stuck in a chimney

is probably newsworthy.

And you wanna know why, how,

and what possessed that person to even try it.

We definitely don't recommend that people attempt

to ever utilise a chimney

as some sort of way to get into your house.

This individual was very lucky, and, fortunately, he survived.

The lucky resident is taken to hospital,

leaving bewildered neighbours to try to make sense of the scene.

Coming up...

If he slips, I mean, that's the end right there.

That water is not stopping.

But first...

The last thing we want is to lose someone in the line of duty.

As dawn breaks in South Central Los Angeles,

a 50-year-old church is engulfed in flames.

The Los Angeles Fire Department

races to save the cherished landmark.

Everyone loves to see a blaze,

fire through the roof of any commercial building.

People just like the way that fire burns.

Whenever I hear "Fire through the roof,"

I stand on the gas pedal.

I've got to get there.

Any time a mayday goes out...

that means all hands on deck.

Even the most seasoned firefighters can be caught off guard

by the unpredictable nature of a massive fire.

Firefighters are brothers.

We never wanna see anything bad happen to them.

These are our true heroes

that are literally running in to save lives.

We're gonna do whatever we can to get to that person

because the last thing that we want

is to lose someone in the line of duty.

One of the firefighters, unfortunately, got injured.

And you can see the team of firefighters

just dragging him to safety.

Whenever I have gotten to a scene and a firefighter is injured,

it's almost as if time stops.

It hits you personally.

This is someone's father, someone's mother.

This is someone's brother, sister, son.

This is a human being who, again, in so many of our eyes

are the real heroes in our society.

The injured firefighter was rescued immediately

by fellow firefighters

and was transported to a local emergency hospital.

We have one firefighter with moderate injuries

and then two firefighters with minor injuries.

Firefighters are our heroes.

And any time we put a firefighter who's been injured,

we get a lot of viewers because we wanna make sure

this firefighter's okay.

Thankfully, the firefighter was rushed to the hospital

in stable condition.

But had it not been

for the lightning fast response of the first responders,

the situation could have spiralled into an unspeakable tragedy.

Despite the superhuman efforts of the firefighters,

the church was reduced to smouldering rubble.

But by some divine miracle,

the fire was contained in time

to prevent the devastation spreading to nearby buildings.

Los Angeles may be the land of endless sunshine,

but when it rains, it pours.

This was a really rainy day.

Christmas Eve, unwrapping gifts, getting ready for festivities...

and a water rescue call goes out.

Somehow this guy was in the middle of the flood control channel.

How he got there? I have no idea.

A lot of people have lost their jobs due to the pandemic,

and they are homeless now. And they probably think

that these water channels and these canals are safe

when they're really not.

He could've fallen or he could've been a homeless individual

that was camping near the flood channel.

When the waters came in rapidly, it swept him away.

This was a big story. I mean, it was loud. It was noisy.

People knew what was going on. People came to watch.

If they'd been there for hours, they could actually fall

and now actually go into that rapid water.

Someone can drown. They could get swept away

by the, uh...the rapid waters.

Just the energy it takes to hang on,

has some superhuman strength and some willpower to live.

You could see the fire department had a lot of resources.

The bravery of the guy that's on the end of that rope.

I mean, he's essentially put himself where this victim is.

I mean, the same situation. I mean, that's pretty risky.

These guys...They are real heroes. And what they do.

With floodwaters rising,

a water rescue specialist is lowered down

to secure the victim with a harness and lift him to safety.

It was a big operation.

It was really frantic.

Against all odds, they emerged victorious over the raging flood.

They saved him. They pull him out.

They lift him up onto the bridge.

And we saw a good ending to this particular rescue.

The moment that guy touched the ground,

the people erupted.

They were clapping and cheering. It was a great moment.

Subtitles: Lea Espector plint.com