CHP officer rescues children from burning car in Monterey

A local California Highway Patrol officer is being called a hero after saving two kids from a burning car in Monterey. It happened around 10 a.m. Monday while a woman was driving on Highway 1 and her car caught fire.

“All of a sudden I see flames, like 10 feet of flames just shooting out underneath the car, pieces of car actually on fire falling off,” said Officer Kaleo Clissold.

Clissold said he was driving on Highway 1 when the car in front of him began to smoke, eventually catching fire. Knowing that these situations can escalate quickly, he instructed the driver pull off at the nearest exit.

“My first thought was just to get everybody out of the car as quickly as we can in case the car was just going to fully engulf in flames,” said Clissold.

The video captured by Monterey Herald Director of Photography Vern Fisher shows the front passenger escaping the burning car while Clissold starts to pull a boy and a girl out to safety.

Clissold said the driver-side door was jammed and the driver had to climb out the passenger side door because the back doors were locked.

“I had to reach through and unlock them and try to get the doors open as quickly as I could to get them unbuckled, out of their car seats and out of the car,” said Clissold.

Clissold said in emergencies like this, every second counts. Even the simple act of unlocking a door can mean the difference between life and death.

“It makes your heart race and you kind of just disregard anything that might be dangerous. That’s just our job. I mean, that’s what I signed up for when I started, so it’s nothing special,” said Clissold.

Fortunately, thanks to the fast-acting police officer, no one was hurt. As a precaution, both women and children were taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation.