Marines Help Put Out Fire After They Roust Family
Four Marines heading back to Camp Pendleton after a night out became firefighters and heroes this week.
Lance Corporals Justin Davis, Tony Holtz, Tony Stephens and John Thomas were driving back from Club Metropolis in Irvine at 2 a.m. Monday when they saw a plume of smoke near the San Diego Freeway and La Paz Road in Mission Viejo.
“We got off the freeway and just kept following the smoke until we found it,” Davis said.
Several trees, a storage shed and fence in the backyard of a home on Cancion Drive were in flames, Holtz said. After calling the fire department, the Marines honked their car horn, waking the residents and neighbors.
The Marines then grabbed garden hoses and buckets of water to battle the blaze until firetrucks arrived 15 minutes later.
Neil Hunter, whose family lives in the house, said that if not for the Marines, the fire could have ignited the home.
“We were trying to get ahold of their names [Tuesday] so we could thank them,” Hunter said. “In the heat of the moment, pardon the pun, we forgot.”
Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Scott Brown said Tuesday that the cause of the blaze, which was extinguished in 22 minutes, was under investigation. No injuries were reported.
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