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...

an inferno in a crowded motel

forces residents to leap for their lives.

You're witnessing people jump from a second-story window

onto concrete.

Is this the world's slowest police pursuit?

There was something not right with him.

You never know where this is gonna go.

And...they're fast.

They're furious.

Illegal races take over city streets.

It's 11:30 p.m. in South Los Angeles,

and video journalist Howard

hears something on his radio that captures his attention.

So, I was sitting there,

and we hear this stolen vehicle report

coming straight towards us, which is perfect for us.

This was the start of a pursuit actually happening on camera.

We rarely see that. Pull up at the intersection.

I can see the guy coming. He guns it.

Straight through the gas station, down into the main road.

Boom.

Takes off half a dozen sheriffs,

and a helicopter overhead. That's a whole pursuit.

Pursuits don't come often,

but when they do come, it is such a rush.

My adrenaline is pumping.

I'm shaking. My windows are steaming up,

but I have to learn to control the adrenaline.

These types of chases are the most dangerous

because the suspect has already shown

a willingness to ram into other vehicles

and to risk the lives of innocent civilians.

After recklessly fleeing through residential streets,

the suspect had taken off on foot.

The Los Angeles Sheriff's Department

has the area shut down for the search.

Howard monitors the action closely.

Once a subject exits a vehicle,

then a whole new line of things goes through the officer's head.

"Is this subject armed?

How far is he willing to go?"

You never know what's gonna happen. It could turn into gunfire.

It could turn into a physical fight.

I had the suspect run right towards me.

All that stands between me

is a chain-link fence and the razor wire.

He's coming over that fence right at me.

Do I grab him? Do I tackle him? Do I leave him alone?

Do I step back, or do I just get my shot?

And I got the shot.

Once I saw that razor fence,

I believe that guy was absolutely caught.

Razor fences are extremely dangerous.

They can cut deep. They can cut veins.

You've got two cops grabbing him. His shirt's being ripped off.

This guy obviously wants to get away.

My adrenaline is already up here.

My adrenaline is peaking at this point.

And to take it up that next notch, I mean, I had to bring myself down,

like, don't get trouble out.

The suspect is proving a danger to the community.

Police must now urgently set up a perimeter to catch him.

I believe the cameraman may have put himself in a bit of danger? Yes.

But you've got to get that shot if you wanna make the money.

Yeah, thinking about danger in a story like this

is more on the top of my mind now, having a family.

I've actually gone back numerous times,

and I've questioned myself about how close I got.

He jumped over razor wire.

It's like me tackling him after that, not a good idea.

Typically, it's not the officer that catches the suspect.

It's the radio. It's getting your partners in place

so we can set up a good perimeter and do a systematic search

so that we can lock that person down into a particular area

and where he doesn't feel he can move without being seen.

There's something in all of us that are like,

"Is this person actually going to get away?"

And nine out of ten times, they don't.

It's one of those human nature things

that we want to follow and watch,

and see what the aftermath is gonna be.

Howard makes the decision to step back,

and alert the officers on the perimeter

as to which one is the suspect.

The guy in the red pants.

-Is that him? -That's him, yeah. That's him.

The ending of this story amazes me.

With all that law enforcement and a helicopter on scene,

the guy gets away.

He should have gotten caught.

How do you get away from a dozen sheriffs,

dozen LAPD and a helicopter?

There were so many times where they could've arrested him.

He ran right past me.

-I could've tackled him. -That guy got lucky.

While some, like this culprit, manage to elude capture,

statistics show that the odds are stacked against them.

An impressive 82% of pursuits end in arrest.

Another night, another adrenaline-fuelled pursuit.

This time, in the San Fernando Valley.

It's just after midnight.

But the chase still draws the attention

of residents and visitors alike.

Every single chase, whether it's low-speed or high-speed,

gets some of the highest ratings, period.

But this one was a slow-moving pursuit.

And it was a stop, start, stop, start.

The San Fernando Police Department

are hot on the tale of a suspected DUI driver

who has come to a stop in front of the iconic Northridge Mall.

And the guy's erratic behaviour,

there was obviously something not right with him.

You never know where this is gonna go.

The police deploy spike strips

in a desperate attempt to stop the fleeing vehicle,

but the driver swerves out of harm's way.

Pursuits can end in multiple different ways.

You don't know if they have a weapon,

or if they're suffering from a mental illness.

So at that point, that's when you wanna slow it down.

There is no rush to make the arrest.

Get slowly out of the vehicle with your hands up.

This suspect seems more intent on getting attention

than getting away.

However, police must shut down this deadly situation.

The suspect in this pursuit is screaming. They're yelling.

We wanna try to stop this as soon as possible.

Your adrenaline is already going inside the news van.

You're going, going, going, going. And then you get to the scene,

and you have lights, you have sirens,

you have people screaming.

Your adrenaline's going even more.

Police resort to extreme measures,

firing multiple non-lethal bean bag rounds

into the vehicle in a bid to subdue the suspect.

As the dust settles, officers approach the door with caution.

Then they pull the suspect out.

The pursuit ended peacefully.

The driver was arrested without incident.

Great outcome.

Coming up...

I mean, the cameraman in this, he was very, very close.

That cameraman was close enough to be burned.

But first...

Probably one of the most tragic and saddest crime scenes.

And not everybody gets rescued.

Each year, there's an average of 358,000 house fires.

It can take just 30 seconds

for a small flame to turn into a major blaze.

In a large city, you'll get a house fire

once or twice a day that's actually burning.

It's probably one of the most tragic and saddest crime scenes I go to.

They are literally on the streets

with what they just woke up out of bed.

They have none of their belongings. It's very tragic.

It's 11:50 p.m.,

and the Los Angeles Fire Department is responding to reports of smoke

coming from a house in the heart of the city.

The firefighters are met with a grim reality

when they arrive.

The back of the house is consumed by the fire.

With every passing second, the stakes grow higher.

When I first hear a call of a structure fire

with somebody possibly trapped,

I need to make sure I'm there

at the time they're bringing that person out of the house

because we ultimately for the news, wanna see that successful rescue.

Firefighters are on high alert as they receive radio reports

that an elderly person may be trapped inside.

They quickly search the house, but it's all clear.

And not everybody gets rescued.

Unfortunately, during a secondary search,

sadly, they found one a victim of the fire

and removed him from the residence.

The 62-year-old male, unfortunately,

has been pronounced deceased on the scene.

Our main objective is to save lives,

property and the environment in that order.

And it doesn't always yield a positive outcome.

We see tragedy and death on a fairly frequent basis.

Tragically, in this particular story,

the homeowner passed away due to the fire,

but we would always circle this story back around,

and on the upside, the dog was saved.

And we can see firefighters carrying this dog out.

Pets are people's family members.

In this case, we did locate a couple of pets inside.

We were able to get them out to safety.

Often we'll rinse them down, clean their nose,

and sometimes provide oxygen as needed.

Los Angeles, a city of dreams and nightmares,

has become a battleground

as a ferocious fire engulfs the Wilmington Motel.

It's 3:15 a.m., and there's no time to waste.

With smoke alarms failing and flames spreading,

it's a race against the odds

to prevent this disaster from becoming

every first responder's worst nightmare.

When you pull up and you see smoke and flames

coming out of, you know, the second and third story

on a large building like that, it's scary.

So, this was a significant fire, where you had...

It well involved fire

blowing out multiple windows on the second story,

to the extent that people are jumping out of their rooms

to land maybe 20 feet below on the asphalt.

The footage is haunting. People are jumping out of windows.

You've got injured people on the floor, and sirens.

It's just utter chaos.

One of the first things when a fire company is on scene,

they perform what's called a size-up.

And essentially, they're painting that picture

for all the other units

that are also responding to that incident.

We have five tactical priorities, and rescue is the first one.

Our primary concern is to save life above property.

Sometimes the best way to rescue them

is to put out the problem.

Panicked residents find themselves trapped inside with no way out.

With doorways blocked and the fire spreading rapidly,

their only hope of escape

is through the windows of the two-story building.

It's a desperate struggle for survival.

You're witnessing people jump from a second-story window

onto concrete.

I had to jump.

-The second story. -What happened?

I had to jump from the second-story window.

That one up there. I had to jump.

Hey, guys! We've got a jumper over here!

So, to be on the scene of something like this,

you have to dig deep and figure out, "Can you help?

Are you in the way? Are you in danger?"

I need to film the people injured.

I need to film the flames.

I need to get lots of different aspects

so that I know when I'm submitting all this footage to the news,

that they're gonna have a complete story.

I mean, the cameraman in this, he was very, very close.

That cameraman was close enough to be burned.

Even if you're in proximity of the fire

and you're not necessarily touching it,

you can absolutely get burned or you can get injured

because of just how hot the flames are.

If that heat is so severe and intense

that you're willing to jump,

that gives you an idea how intense it is.

I mean, I've been to big fires,

and I've literally had to be 20, 30, 40, 50 feet away

to get away from the intense heat.

Coming up...

With an intense fire and increasing numbers of victims,

our cameraman must make a tough call.

Chaos engulfs Los Angeles in the early hours of the morning

as brave emergency responders engage in a fierce battle

against an inferno raging through a motel housing dozens.

The scorching heat is so unbearable

that people are leaping out of windows

in a desperate attempt to escape the flames.

So, this was a significant fire

to the extent that people were jumping out of their rooms.

You're witnessing people jump from a second-story window

onto concrete.

So, depending on the height of their fall,

we can anticipate severe fractures, paralysis, or even death.

Now you have a lot of patients to deal with,

you need to call for an abundance

of additional firefighter paramedics

to triage, treat and transport everyone.

With increasing amounts of desperate victims,

the cameraman makes a selfless decision.

First word that came to mind was just "humanity."

Capturing footage is incredibly important,

you know, to tell the story.

It also helps fire departments train and learn how to do better.

And being able to film and help, I mean, good on him.

All you wanna do is help.

If the person is in severe pain

or there's something I can do, I'm gonna try to help them.

You'll see another cameraman in there.

They drag the person out. You wanna get that shot.

But at what point do you turn into a human being and help?

It's a very fine line, but once you make that switch,

I feel better about myself when I help

rather than actually film someone's misery.

Being able to move that victim out of harm's way

um, was pretty special.

I mean, it's a phenomenal thing. That's the side of cameramen

you don't often see in my line of work.

The firefighters finally gain control over the raging inferno

after a gruelling hour-long battle.

The toll of the flames, however, is devastating.

Twelve people are rushed to hospital for treatment,

and the lifeless body of a man

is tragically discovered inside the motel.

The fire captains suspect arson.

Situated in Ventura County, California,

Oxnard is the location of our next story,

where a burglar has taken inspiration

from the jolly man himself, Santa Claus.

This guy tries to break into a house through the chimney.

Not the best idea.

What happens? He gets stuck, obviously.

My first reaction to this type of call is,

"What were they doing and how did they get in there?"

But when there's a will, there's a way.

And in his case, his way was in.

Somebody decided to challenge a chimney,

and looks like the chimney won.

How does Santa get down your chimney?

Not like that, obviously.

No. Unfortunately, real life doesn't mimic cartoons.

A man's reckless decision to slide down the chimney

left him trapped and fighting for his life.

First responders must now battle to save him.

Throughout your career, you do see some very interesting things.

I'm sure the firefighters and the first responders

that were there this evening... that was a challenging call.

They were professional. They didn't really care

why that gentleman was in the chimney,

but they knew that they had to do everything they could

to actually perform a rescue.

It looked like he was crammed into that chimney pretty tightly.

This scenario could've been bad. I've heard stories where someone

is stuck in there, and no one saw them go down.

If you go down and your lungs are constricted, you can't shout.

If you can't shout and you're in a chimney, what next?

You have the potential to not be found and unfortunately die.

And there have been calls similar to that

that that's exactly what the outcome is.

The best way to actually extricate somebody

is by removing that object from around the patient

instead of the other way around.

So having to use lots of different equipment,

utilising things like rotary saws, chisels, sledgehammers,

I would imagine they were talking to the patient the whole time.

They were trying to keep him calm,

let them know that they're doing everything they can to free him.

They got jackhammers outside,

chiselling away right next to your head.

I wouldn't wanna be in his shoes. I'm claustrophobic as heck.

No way would I wanna be in his shoes.

If that was me stuck in the chimney,

I probably would've passed out from just freaking out.

It takes three hours of gruelling effort

for rescue crews to demolish half of the chimney

and free the trapped man

as he fought for his life in the narrow confines.

Something like this

is a dream come true for a cameraman.

You got a situation that's not normal.

It's bizarre. It's on the outside.

It leaves you thinking, "What? What the heck is going on?"

I think it's gonna be a money shot

because people wanna see a rescue. They wanna see a happy ending.

They wanna see firefighters go in there

and get that guy out and get him help.

The bad Santa is taken to hospital wiser for the experience.

Maybe next time, he'll try the window.

-Coming up... -It's a bunch of guys

in high-performance vehicles

just going crazy, doing burnouts and doughnuts.

It is extremely dangerous

because nothing can stop that car from going into the crowd.

Too fast? Too furious?

Illegal street races and takeovers

have surged over recent years in California,

and law enforcement are struggling to stop them.

It is 12:00 a.m. in South Los Angeles,

and a large group of street racers have assembled to earn some rubber.

A bunch of guys in high-performance vehicles

on public streets,

just going crazy, doing burnouts and doughnuts.

It's become an epidemic now with street takeovers.

What they are is, 300, 400, 500 people

will block in a four entrance/exit intersection.

Well, these guys are going crazy.

A street takeover to me

is probably one of the stupidest things

I've ever encountered and had to report on.

It's becoming an every night thing

right across Los Angeles and up to the Bay Area.

It's organised.

They know about it for days, if not weeks.

Police are powerless against the massive mobs,

and social media is spreading the chaos even further.

It is extremely dangerous

because there's nothing to stop that vehicle

from going into the crowd.

A lot of these street takeovers that I've had to cover,

the reason why we were sent there

is because there were multiple injuries, if not death.

A girl was actually killed.

She was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time

when one of the drivers sadly lost control.

I've seen street takeovers with at least 400, 500 people.

And as soon as the police show up, they're like cockroaches.

The authorities win this battle

by shutting down the street takeover.

But the war against these lawless uprisings rages on.

The streets of Los Angeles

remain a hotbed of chaos and destruction

in a never-ending cycle of shutdowns and relocations.

Subtitles: Lea Espector plint.com