67-Year-Old Father Jumps from 2nd Story of His Burning Home to Save 4 Family Members Trapped Inside

A 67-year-old father who jumped from the second floor of his burning California home so he could rescue his family is being celebrated for his courage as they cope with losing everything in the blaze.

“For me, it’s the family. We are alive — that’s it,” Otoniel Gomez tells NBC affiliate KNBC in a joint interview with his loved ones after the devastating fire at their Santa Ana home on Friday, Dec. 5. “Everything else is just material.”

Investigators told the outlet the fire may have started on the first floor around 1:30 a.m. that morning.

Capt. Sean Doran of the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA) told CW affiliate KTLA that a woman first smelled smoke and alerted her husband. When he tried to open their door, the thick smoke and intense heat made it impossible to get out. Gomez then climbed out of their second-floor bedroom window, dropped onto the patio cover just below, and from there leapt about nine feet to the ground, according to the outlets. Once outside, he grabbed a ladder to help his wife escape, then used it again to help his 11-year-old son out of his bedroom on the second floor.

“You can hear the dad on top of the ladder, pounding on that window, trying to get the attention of his 11-year-old, who was still fast asleep,” Doran told KTLA. “He says, ‘Open the window … We’re going to have to jump. We’re going to get you out of here,’ calm but urgent, over and over again.”

Officials told the outlet that after the boy was safe, Gomez used the ladder to rescue his adult son and an elderly woman before flames engulfed the second floor. First responders were notified of the fire at 1:35 a.m. By the time crews arrived, all five occupants had escaped, along with the family’s Chihuahua, Lyka, according to KTLA.

“Five people are alive today thanks to the heroic actions of a 67-year-old man at his home on South Linda Way,” OCFA wrote in the caption of a video posted on social media, which showed the home in flames and the damage left behind after firefighters responded.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, a spokesperson for the agency confirmed.

Gomez’s daughter told KNBC that her father has always been their steady protector.

“He’s just a solid guy, you know? Growing up, I never saw him panic. I never saw him stressed out… When things would go wrong, there was always a positive attitude,” she said. “As a child, I never felt uncertain or scared because of him.”

Although the family is deeply thankful that everyone survived, they are now without a home. Daisy Valdivia, one of Gomez’s children, has created a GoFundMe page to help the family secure housing and cover basic needs, per KTLA.

“My dad, Otoniel, is facing one of the most difficult times of his life,” wrote Valdivia, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “He is currently homeless, trying to care for his young child who is still in elementary school.”

Neighbor Frank Ramirez, who saw Gomez after the fire, told KNBC how shaken he was by the ordeal.

“He was distraught and full of fear. He almost lost everything. This is nothing compared to losing his son and wife,” Ramirez told the outlet. “Thank God he got that much out of it. The rest is replaceable.”