Southern California Edison employees land copter to save Moorpark home from fire

Flying in a helicopter over Moorpark, a pair of Southern California Edison employees spotted a home threatened by fire and landed in the driveway to help put out the blaze. 

Ryan “Buster” Brown, an Edison senior patrolman for transmission, and helicopter pilot Paul Towell were flying over the city to inspect power lines on Monday when they saw smoke.

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Brown said they called 911 at 12:06 p.m. to report it, then circled over the house for a better look at what was going on. Brown said they could see that the smoke was coming from a burning car just outside the garage, so Brown called 911 again to report the exact address in the 10000 block of Citrus Drive. 

Since fire crews weren’t on the scene yet, the pilot with decades of experience landed the helicopter in the driveway and Brown rushed to the car and began trying to put out the flames with the helicopter’s fire extinguisher. 

The fire extinguisher was soon exhausted, so Brown said he grabbed a garden hose and started spraying the perilously nearby garage with water to protect it.

About that time, Ventura County Fire Department crews arrived and used a hose to battle the flames, Brown said.

The fire was reported knocked down at 12:40 p.m., said Engineer Mike Des Forges, a spokesman for the department.

Although the house was saved, the car was destroyed, he said. 

No injuries were reported and no one was displaced, he said. 

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Mo Jazi is a breaking news reporter with The Star. Reach him at Mo.NajafianJazi@vcstar.com or 805-437-0236.