‘Don’t lose me’: Woman, 100, rescued by deputies as Eaton Fire approached senior living facility

ALTADENA, California — A harrowing video released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Tuesday showed two deputies rescuing a 100-year-old woman as the Eaton Fire approached her senior living facility in Altadena, California.

The body camera footage showed deputies Nicholas Martinez and Quinn Alkonis using flashlights while walking through the evacuated facility’s darkened halls, shouting and going door to door searching for anyone left behind.

As they witnessed the inferno getting closer through the facility’s windows, their search intensified.

Suddenly, the deputies heard a distant voice.

“Hello? Where are you at?” the deputies shouted into the distance as they turned the corner and saw the 100-year-old woman approaching them with her walker.

“I’ve been trying to find a way out,” the woman told the deputies.

“Let’s get you out of here,” the deputy responded.

“Where do I go? Don’t lose me,” she said.

“I promise I won’t,” said the deputy. “No, we won’t lose you. Don’t worry.”

The woman explained that she hadn’t heard the deputies shouting because she is deaf and couldn’t charge her hearing aids.

The deputies were able to get her to safety.

Deputies Martinez and Alkonis are assigned to the Carson station but were part of a vast deployment of first responders who rushed into the danger zone in Altadena, an area they were not familiar with.

“Their courage and selflessness exemplify the highest standards of law enforcement, and they deserve our deepest respect and gratitude,” said Sheriff Robert Luna.