All language subtitles for First.On.The.Scene.S01E03.1080p.WEB.H264-PeeWee

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,

a firefighter's life
hangs in the balance

after a horrific building collapse.

That's something
every firefighter dreads to see.

A daring nighttime rescue
of a man and his furry companion.

No normal situation
for most dog walks in the evening,

but somehow he ends up
100 feet over a cliff with his dog.

And a cameraman
must make the tough decision

to risk his life to save a life.

Our first story takes us

to the sprawling city
of Phoenix, Arizona,

known for its scorching
desert climate.

Police officers are responding
to a domestic violence call.

Nothing can prepare an officer,
or anyone for that matter,

for seeing horrific incidences.

This was a huge story.

This didn't just make
local Phoenix news.

This made US news.

I saw it in LA.
My family saw it in the UK.

Officers show up on scene
to a domestic violence call

where a woman had been shot
inside of her residence.

The first thing the officers
need to do is secure the area.

They need to get anybody
that is within the perimeter

outside of the perimeter, to safety.

You never know how something
like this is gonna end.

Emotions are high. The people
involved are unpredictable.

I've been on situations like this.
On hostage and barricade situations.

And all of those
have ended peacefully.

Well, this one didn't.

Someone comes out holding a baby.

As a father... You see a baby
being brought out of a house.

What kind of situation
you put this kid in?

Seriously, it's a brand-new infant.

You can see it
wiggling around on the floor.

You have, you know, people inside,

and then you have
this baby coming out.

Everybody's on the tip of their toes
waiting to see what's gonna happen.

Officers apprehend
the surrendering man

before cautiously making their way
towards the house

to rescue the abandoned baby,
who lies innocently on the doorstep.

When the officers
go to check the residence,

all hell breaks loose.

Someone appears in the doorway
and ambushes the cops.

There's a baby on the ground,
and there's gunfire.

It is common among criminals,

when they believe
they're gonna be apprehended,

to ambush police officers.

That person made a choice
to just go out shooting at the cops.

You have nothing left to live for

if you can come up with that
in your brain

knowing there's a baby there,

and you're gonna shoot
five police officers?

All up, five officers were shot,

including four
who were trying to save the baby.

These situations are terrifying.

I mean, from personal experience,
I've had bullets whizz by my head,

and that's something
I don't ever wanna go through again.

The cameraman was pretty close.

It felt like you were
right there in it.

It's a cameraman's dream
to get this footage,

but, personally, would be
my worst nightmare.

After having my own child
and becoming a mother,

it would become
really difficult for me

to be able to be on the scene here

and not get emotional
telling this story of what happens.

Like, I would have
some internal struggles,

whether this was something
I would wanna see.

So they enter
to find this suspect dead.

He'd taken his own life.

But the baby...was unscathed.

How that baby survived
is beyond me.

Not just survived, but is uninjured.

The bravery is a 100 plus.

They don't even think.
They don't think about themselves.

They think
about what's most important,

and the baby was most important.

Our next story takes us to Arcadia,

a quaint city
just east of Los Angeles,

where a truck
is headed for devastation.

How often do you see
a big rig on residential streets

crashing into multiple cars?

There's a whole lot of damage.

About 1:40, the whole neighbourhood
was sleeping,

and I heard an extremely loud crash.

It was a horrific sound.

We were sure
that there were fatalities.

I'm thinking to myself,
"Is that a gas tanker

full of flammable liquids or what?"

Is it safe to be in this area?

When the fire department arrived,

they quickly assessed the situation.

They're looking for special markings
on the trucks.

In this particular situation...
it ended up being milk.

Got milk?

At first, this wouldn't be
such a big news story.

Until the cameraman
found out it was full of milk,

and that becomes a bit of a story

they can have
a bit of a joke with.

There are no injuries, luckily.

This driver
definitely caused a big scene.

Between seven and ten cars
were totalled in this wreck.

Thankfully, no one was injured,
but the owners of these parked cars

will undoubtedly be crying
over spilled milk after this crash.

Coming up later...

Stopped vehicle,
stopped in the lanes of traffic,

is a disaster waiting to happen.

But first...

It was one of the craziest things
I've ever filmed.

High-speed pursuits have become

an all-too-common occurrence
on American roads,

with an estimated
40,000 police chases

taking place each year.

It's 7:00 p.m. in Los Angeles,

and a radio call catches
video journalist Howard's attention.

This was one of those pursuits
I'll remember for as long as I live.

This is one of the most bizarre
pursuits I've seen in LA.

This was fantastic video
of being first on the scene.

It literally looked
like it was out of a movie.

It was one of the craziest things
I've ever filmed,

and I've filmed
lots of crazy things.

This happened close to where I live,

so I was on this pursuit
really quickly.

This woman's stolen a big RV,

sheared off the front of it
after hitting a palm tree.

She's just ramming
people coming off the freeways.

She had no regard for life.

Suddenly, I realised
this motor home is up on me.

My adrenaline is going and going.
I mean, I am buzzed.

So I grab my camera,
and I'm filming out the window.

This demolished RV comes cruising
through the intersection.

This motor home
was completely mashed up

with a dog so loyal to the driver,
sitting there on her lap.

And you can see one on the front
hanging on for dear life.

Halfway through one of my shots,
you can see it.

It was absolute absurdity
and craziness

on the streets of Los Angeles.

There was a news helicopter.

And for me to make a sale,
I had to get something different,

something
that the choppers can't get.

At the end of the pursuit,
she crashed with the dog in there.

When she was finally arrested,
that dog was right next to her.

And I got a close up
of that dog and that female suspect

sat next to each other.

That was the shot I needed
to make that sale.

And boy, did they make a sale.

Both dogs involved in the incident
are rescued

and have since been adopted
to new homes.

So happy ending for the animals.

When it comes to breaking news,
every second counts,

and in many cases,
it's the video journalists

who arrive on scene
before law enforcement.

This was an international hit story.

This is almost like a movie.

It's hard to believe
this was a real life.

This was a story
that affected my life,

affected my family's life,
affected my brother's life.

I mean, ultimately, this story
made him put his camera down.

He's out of the business.

What he did was truly amazing.

It's 3:30 a.m.,

and Howard's brother, Austin,
has heard a call

about a stalled vehicle
on the freeway.

The cameraman got the call,

was close by enough

before law enforcement
arrived on scene.

He pulled over
on the hard shoulder

and focused his camera
on that vehicle.

My brother filmed the entire thing.

Most cars barely get around it.

But then a vehicle
comes barrelling through

and clips the side
of the stranded car.

When a vehicle is stopped

in the lanes of traffic
without lights,

they're very difficult to see.

Unfortunately,
the gentleman who stalled out

was stalled in between lanes,

and it wasn't safe to exit
to go to either direction.

A stalled vehicle
stopped in the lanes of traffic,

no lights or indicators,
is a disaster waiting to happen.

And it did.

The car that was hit
had somebody inside it,

and it exploded when it was hit.

Knowing the driver has minutes,
if not seconds, to survive,

Austin switches into rescue mode.

He decided at that point

it was more important
to save the guy's life

than to get anything else on camera.

He put his camera down

to switch from cameraman mode

into life-saving measures
without even thinking about it.

-Coming up...
-Seeing an SUV

slammed on the freeway
is one thing,

but to put yourself
in a danger like that

is something else.

It's the dead of night
in Los Angeles,

and video journalist Howard's
brother, Austin,

is the first to arrive on scene
to a car stalled on the freeway.

Stopped vehicle,
stopped in the lanes of traffic,

no lights or indicators,
is a disaster waiting to happen.

-And it did.
-Oh, sh...

Events take a dangerous turn.

Austin makes a split-second,
life-or-death decision.

My brother filmed the entire thing.

What he did was truly amazing.

He put his camera down...

to switch from cameraman mode

into life-saving measures
without even thinking about it.

Due to the nature of the crash,
of course,

other news cameramen
are gonna show up quickly.

And as you can see,

one of the cameramen
filmed the entire rescue.

My brother ran across
five, six lanes of freeway traffic,

smashed the window
of the vehicle on fire,

pulled the guy out, saving his life.

It is literally a matter of seconds
before that person would have died.

Seeing an SUV
slammed on the freeway,

bursting into flames on camera
is one thing.

But to put yourself in a danger
like that is something else.

It's more than heroic.

He absolutely saved his life.

Hey, sir.

Breathe with me, alright? Breathe.

-I need to pull him back.
-Okay.

Luckily, this story
had a happy ending.

The driver of the vehicle survived,

and the cameraman
was awarded two commendations.

I mean, this affected
my entire family,

but especially Austin
on a very, very deep level.

I mean, he truly risked his own life
to save someone else's life.

And that triggered something in him

that's now made him
put his camera down for good.

What he went through that day
and the risks he took,

it's not worth it for him anymore.
And it was a passion of ours.

And to have him now not do it...
it's hard.

I mean, I miss him.

It's 2:48 a.m. in Los Angeles,
and firefighters are rushing

to tackle a gymnasium
that's erupted in flames.

With hundreds of fires
reported each night,

the brave men and women
of the Los Angeles Fire Department

are all too familiar
with this dangerous routine.

So, for a news cameraman,

when you hear
of a structure fire coming out,

you listen carefully.

As soon as the callback comes,
there's heavy fire showing...

So this fire appears to be happening
in a one-story commercial building,

doing business as YMCA Gymnastics.

With the equipment in there,
there's a lot of items

that could be very flammable,

and so the fire can be very intense.

What we got to witness
here in this video

is firefighters putting on
their personal protective equipment

that can easily add
more than 60 pounds to you.

In a place like that, a gymnasium,

split level, gym equipment,
everything else in there,

they probably couldn't see
five feet ahead

due to all the smoke and the flames.

The hazards inside
are not always known.

Is it a compartmentalised building?
Is it all separated?

What is burning?
How long has it been burning?

The cameraman focuses heavily
on the front of the building,

where the first responders
are entering the place.

Then he hears over the radio,

"Firefighter down."

Among the chaos
of the structural collapse,

a firefighter finds themselves
in dire need of assistance.

That's something every firefighter
dreads to see,

one of our own having
to be pulled out along the ground.

I'm a big supporter
of law enforcement

and the fire department.

And seeing one of those guys
go down, it really hits home.

Thankfully,
his brother and sister firefighters

were there to get him right away.

The brave trapped firefighter
is successfully pulled to safety

and immediately rushed
to hospital in a stable condition.

Coming up later...

This isn't just any monster truck.

This is a truck that's owned
by a celebrity and DJ.

-But first...
-No normal situation

for most dog walks,

but somehow he ends up
100 feet over a cliff with his dog.

Our next story takes us

north of Los Angeles,
to Santa Clarita.

It's the early evening,
and a man and his dog

have found themselves
on a road less travelled.

Los Angeles is known
for lots of beautiful areas to hike,

and sometimes
people veer off those trails

and get into a perilous situation.

Not a normal situation
for most dog walks,

but somehow he ends up
100 feet over a cliff with his dog.

Did the dog run off
and fall off the cliff

and then the owner
chased after the dog?

This is just a really sad situation.

I mean,
it's in the middle of nowhere.

It's a remote area.

But the good thing for me is
when I hear the call on the scanner,

I have enough time to get there.

That's what happened in this case.

We evaluate
all aspects and potential rescues,

and we choose the one that'd create
the best outcome for the patient.

In this case,
it was deemed a helicopter hoist.

I've filmed and been
on a lot of these rescue type calls,

and these hoist rescues
can take hours.

That pilot's gotta get
to the helicopter.

He's gotta get it out
of the hangar.

He's gotta get in the air.

He's gotta go
through air traffic control.

This is an AgustaWestland 139
helicopter you see there,

so it does have some
significant downwash.

It could be challenging
for some people,

especially if they're
scared of heights

'cause you're kind
of getting hoisted

through midair in a wind tunnel,

and you're usually going
to spin around to some extent.

They're in for quite a ride.

And the shot that I wanna get

is the person being airlifted
and pulled into the helicopter.

And in this case, with the dog,

I mean, the shot that's gonna sell
is that firefighter hugging a dog,

spinning around,
heading up to that chopper.

I mean, that's an amazing shot.

You see the man
being rescued and hoisted up,

and then you see this adorable dog
that looks like a big bear.

But dogs like to use their teeth
when they're scared.

Firefighters will have
to have a very strong grip,

and we just ride it through
as we hoist them up

and then hand that canine off
to its owner

and firefighters
inside the helicopter.

Firefighters skilfully execute
a daring aerial rescue,

whisking the man
and his four-legged friend

out of the treacherous canyon
in under 45 minutes.

Talk about a cliff-hanger.

Hollywood,
a place where stars are born

and dreams come true.

But beneath the shimmering facade,
lies a darker side.

We live in LA, the entertainment
capital of the world.

People wanna know about celebrities.
They wanna know about their lives.

They wanna see where they live,
what kind of cars they drive.

And so when they become
the actual victims

in these everyday crimes

that so many of us deal with
living in Los Angeles,

sure, it's gonna become
a much bigger story.

It's 9:30 p.m.,
and authorities are in pursuit

of a driver
in a stolen mammoth T-Rex truck.

This isn't just any monster truck.
This is a truck that's owned

by a very well-known celebrity
and DJ.

DJ Marshmello's

massive monster truck
with multiple wheels

was stolen from a mechanic shop.

This is a celebrity's car

that is being involved
in a high-speed chase.

This is every cameraman's dream
to get a great pursuit like that,

especially of a monster truck.

Normal police stop tactics

can't be used
against a vehicle like this.

Tires are too big for stop sticks

and a pit manoeuvre.

That wouldn't work at all.

The pursuit went on
for over an hour.

People are sitting in their living
rooms at home, glued to the screen,

watching how this is all unfolding.

Lucky for everyone,
the driver of this truck

can't drive very well.

He ended up colliding into a pole.

The vehicle could no longer go,
flat in the tire.

He was taken into custody
without incident.

This truck
is a $400,000 custom pickup truck.

Expensive car to crash.

I guess DJ Marshmello
is gonna get his truck back

with a little more personality...

and a couple more dents.

Subtitles: Lea Espector
plint.com