Fire Destroys Apartment : Rescue of 2 Makes Hero of Sun-Seeker

Bob Getsoff went down to the swimming pool of his Van Nuys apartment building Thursday to spend a lazy afternoon soaking up rays. Instead, he’s soaking up a hero’s adulation.

Getsoff, 32, is being credited with saving a 4-year-old boy and a family maid trapped in a burning apartment.

“I’ve never been a hero before. I’ve always wondered what it felt like,” said Getsoff, a respiratory technician, several hours after he had kicked down the door of the burning apartment in the 7300 block of Lennox Avenue.

The boy, Zuri Laniado, and the maid, Ana Flores, 20, were uninjured, but the apartment was destroyed, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Larry Ford. The boy’s parents, Sara and David Laniado, who immigrated three years ago from Israel, were working in their downtown wholesale garment business when the fire occurred.

The blaze, which may have been started by an exploding television set, began shortly before 1:30 and was extinguished by five fire companies in about 20 minutes, Ford said.

Getsoff said he was sitting by the swimming pool with his wife and 9-month-old baby when he suddenly smelled smoke and heard screams coming from a nearby two-story apartment.

“I walked over to the door and I heard this woman and baby banging on the door trying to get out, and they couldn’t. And they were screaming, so I did what I could. It was instinct. I kicked the door a few times until it broke,” Getsoff said.

“It was very smokey. The couch was in flames,” he recalled. He said the woman and child ran out of the apartment as soon as he kicked in the door.

Getsoff, believing there may have been another child inside, tried to go in.

Entry ‘Just Impossible’

“I went in just a few feet and it was just impossible to get anyplace,” he said. With the help of a neighbor who acted as interpreter, Getsoff said, he then learned from the maid, who spoke only Spanish, that the family’s second child was away at school.

“About two minutes after I got them out, the whole house went up in flames,” Getsoff said.

Later Thursday, Getsoff was taking the praise from his friends and fellow apartment dwellers in stride.

“It’s a real good feeling. I’m just glad honestly that the woman and baby were OK,” he said.

Keepsakes Unharmed

While Getsoff was accepting congratulations, the child’s mother was counting her blessings. Although the family was not insured and will “have to start all over again from nothing” to replace its clothing, furniture and appliances, Sara Laniado said, she is grateful that her son and some treasured keepsakes were unharmed. Officials estimated damage to the unit and its contents at $90,000.

To her amazement, she said, the only item unharmed by the blaze was a large bag filled with Jewish religious objects such as yarmulkes and prayer shawls that men wear to show reverence for God. The bag also contained photographs of the couple’s wedding, she said.

Sara Laniado said she views this as symbolic:

“I think He helped me save my son and only these are safe. It’s like from God. I don’t know,” she said. “I’m so happy, you can’t believe it.”