TOPANGA CANYON— Los Angeles Police Department Topanga Area Narcotics officers rescued a woman from a burning apartment on May 28. According to the LAPD blog, at around 12:00 p.m. Topanga Area Officers Ben Mia and Matt Stuart were in the area of the 21700 block of Roscoe Boulevard and spotted an apartment unit in flames.
Officials were aware the Los Angeles Fire Department was not on the scene and that victims might be trapped inside. As they searched for possible victims through the front door, neighbors alerted them that an occupant (a husband) went back inside the apartment to look for his wife who was asleep in the bedroom. Both husband and wife were trapped inside the apartment, which prompted Officers Stuart and Mia to rush inside and locate both individuals.
They found the husband disoriented in the living room and escorted him out, as they went back inside to locate his wife. The officers crawled on their hands and knees to avoid the smoke and flames to reach the victim’s wife. They were able to reach the wife who was trapped in the bedroom because of the amount of smoke. She was carried to safety and treated by LAFD paramedics who were at the scene. The wife was later transported to a local hospital and treated for smoke inhalation.
Officers Mia and Stuart were taken to a local hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation and were later released. The LAPD would like to commend Officers Mia and Stuart for their heroism and upholding the proud traditions of the Los Angeles Police Department.