A Thanksgiving night fire in the Larchmont neighborhood of Los Angeles turned into a dramatic rescue when an off-duty paramedic, Richard Recinos, pulled 7-year-old Savannah Vasquez from a burning duplex as embers rained down around them.
The fire broke out just before midnight, igniting trees beside a two-story residence on West Oakwood Avenue and quickly threatening multiple families who lived nearby.
How the Fire and Rescue Unfolded
Recinos was driving home from his family’s Thanksgiving dinner at around 11:30 p.m. when he noticed an unusual glow in the distance.
“We watched it grow from a few blocks down,” he told KTLA.
He arrived at the fast-spreading blaze on West Oakwood Avenue before firefighters and initially assumed the building was empty—until he saw a young girl step out onto the porch.
That child was 7-year-old Savannah Vasquez, who had been awake waiting for her mother to get home.
Savannah later described the moment she realized something was very wrong.
“At first I thought it was just my imagination, but then it got warm, too. I just standed there for like 10 seconds. I didn’t know what to do,” she said.
Then she remembered the fire-safety lessons from school: “Don’t grab anything, leave the house, leave wherever you are.”
After warning her grandmother, she headed for the exit as the flames grew more intense.
Eyewitnesses told KABC that residents first became aware of the fire when ash began hitting their windows.
Neighbor Ari Vokydis said it sounded “like a snowstorm, like snow hitting the window.” When he looked outside, he saw that the air was filled with glowing ash and the sky was bright red.
Vokydis quickly alerted his family, told his wife to call 911, woke his children, and started knocking on doors in the duplex to warn his neighbors.
“I came down here and banged on the door to wake my neighbors up. Their kid was the first one to wake up,” he recalled.
Recinos pointed to an area near the trees where the flames were already roaring. “I believe she was somewhere right here,” he said.
Savannah remembered his sudden arrival: “That guy just came out of nowhere, and then I was there, and then he helped me get out of the fire.”
Recinos said his training kicked in as soon as he saw the danger.
“Thank God I had a leather jacket. I zipped it all the way up and it did its job. I ran in there… and I picked her up and I kind of just ran out. I dropped her off right over there,” he said, adding that “there was another guy who kind of helped out.”
Video recorded by a Citizen App user shows Recinos carrying Savannah away from the burning duplex as ash and burning embers fall around them.
Once firefighters arrived on scene, they made sure everyone else inside and nearby was safely evacuated.
Daylight footage later showed significant damage to the property, and the family’s car burned beyond repair.
Savannah had her own way of describing the scene: “Grandma’s car is now like a marshmallow.”
Firefighters said that although the home was damaged, it was not condemned, allowing the family to stay. Savannah suffered minor burns and blisters on her feet from hot debris but was otherwise uninjured.
Reactions After the Fire
When asked how grateful she was that her family survived, Savannah replied: “A million bajillion to a trillion percent… because I love my family.”
Recinos, reflecting on the rescue, called it a brief but decisive moment: “This was a quick moment and a quick getaway.”
Ongoing Investigation
Officials say the investigation into what caused the Thanksgiving night fire is still underway.
