WATCH: Reporter douses flames endangering California home on live TV
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) — John Fenoglio, a former EMT and volunteer firefighter who works as a reporter at Nexstar's KTLA, was reporting live from the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, Tuesday evening when he seized the opportunity to douse flames that had spread to a home.
"It looks like the back of this house is catching (fire)," Fenoglio can be heard saying as he walked through a neighborhood ravaged by the wildfire, with embers spreading the blaze from house to house.
He quickly picked up a garden house, turned the spigot on, and walked around to the side of the home to douse two areas that were on fire. You can see his quick work in the video above.
As the camera pans around, you can see nearby smoke billowing amid a bright orange and red sky.
"You see these structures just light up very quickly and, you know, if there's a garden hose right here, you try to do something if you can. Obviously, that's not our job, but you try to help when you can," Fenoglio told the audience.
It was unclear if the home remained intact after the live report.
The Eaton Fire erupted Tuesday evening amid strong Santa Ana winds and charred more than 10,000 areas as of Wednesday afternoon. Dozens, if not hundreds, of homes have been destroyed. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Roughly 30 miles to the west, the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles' Pacific Palisades neighborhood had destroyed an estimated 1,000 structures as of Wednesday afternoon, making it the most destructive fire in the city's history.